Walmart.com vs. Target.com Review

I spend a good deal of my spare time in stores of different types and since my free time is rather limited, I tend to shop online whenever possible. Like most online addicts, I have my online favorites and I use them when I can. But sometimes, the prices or the large selection offered at another online store is significant enough to convince me to shop at a different store- one that doesn't rank at the top of my list but that offers enough positive qualities to visit on occasion. Two stores that come to mind immediately are WalMart.com and Target.com: The online sites for these two retail giants.    

Comparison Commentary:

Wal- Mart and Target are tremendous competitors, both online and at the physical location stores, and many consumers do not hesitate to say which store they prefer to visit. But when it comes to the online web sites, the WalMart.com vs. Target.com decision isn't as clear- cut, even among those shoppers who strongly prefer one to the other when they visit a brick and mortar store.

Comparing the online stores yields more similarities than differences. Let's take a look at a quick breakdown of the good and bad of Walmart.com and Target.com:

Online Merchandise Selection:

Both Walmart.com and Target.com include a large selection of merchandise- very similar to what is found in the actual superstores, minus the food. The selection in Walmart.com is slightly better for most general merchandise, but Target.com offers superior selection for things like books and CD's, due to the Target.com affiliation with Amazon.com. When you lookup certain items of merchandise (like books and other goods) in Target.com that are sold through its affiliation with Amazon.com, you are provided with the same merchandise selection you would get if you logged directly into Amazon.com. This means that Target.com shoppers have a gigantic inventory of books and certain other merchandise items to choose from. 

Site Ease of Use:

Both Walmart.com and Target.com are easy to use and easy to search for merchandise. They offer a similar layout and similar search function, too. However, the edge for ease of use has to go to Target.com, thanks once again to the partnership with Amazon.com. If you already have an Amazon.com account, it doubles as a Target.com login id and password, making it easy to setup an account. It will automatically pull over your Amazon.com personal information into Target.com, eliminating the need to establish a separate account.

Shipping Options/Taxes:

Walmart.com offers three shipping options (four if you count the freight option), which is exactly the same as Target.com, and both sites are efficient when it comes to the on- time delivery of purchases. Both charge sales taxes also, but there are some key differences in this area. With Walmat.com, customers have to pay sales taxes on all orders, unless they use a Wal-Mart shopping card that was purchased at Walmart.com or at an actual Wal-Mart store. With Target.com, sales tax avoidance is a little easier. You can avoid sales tax at Target.com if you: 1. Live in Alaska or Vermont or 2. Make a purchase that links you through the Amazon.com affiliation (like a book purchase). Kansas, Kentucky, North Dakota, and Washington are the only states that charge sales taxes on orders that link through Amazon.com. This difference in sales tax can result in a slightly better deal at Target.com for certain types of merchandise.

Customer Service:

In the area of customer service, Walmart.com is the clear winner. Based on my experience, I have had better luck getting through to a rep at Walmart.com. Wal- Mart associates are on call 12 to 14 hours per day during the week, with slightly fewer hours of availability on the weekends. With Target.com, the lines are more frequently clogged and it can take some time to get your message through. My advice with Target.com is to give them about five minutes to answer the phone. If you're still listening to elevator music after five minutes and your issue can wait, send an internal e-mail to a rep instead.

Pricing:

Ease of use, selection, and other factors are important for any online store, but for many customers, the bottom line is price. And in this area, Walmart.com beats Target.com by a small margin on most merchandise. One exception is (again!) books and other Amazon.com- driven merchandise. If Amazon.com is having a special deal on a popular book, then Target.com is likely to offer the better deal.

Bottom Line Viewpoint:

As you can see from the above comparisons, Walmart.com and Target.com are very similar to each other when measured across several key areas. Both sites have a large selection of merchandise, and the selection of certain merchandise at Target.com is gigantic, thanks to the affiliation with Amazon.com. Target.com is easier to establish an account (if you already have an account with Amazon.com) than Walmart.com, but with Walmart.com, it is easier to get through to a customer service rep.

Looking at some miscellaneous factors, I don't like the inconsistency of the product information at Walmart.com. Some products give a thorough explanation of what is included, the capabilities, etc., but other products give almost no information at all. I also find that the shipping prices are just slightly higher at Target.com, even though the efficiency of the shipping (i.e., getting things to you on time) is good at both sites.

So, which is better, Walmart.com or Target.com? The decision is almost a toss- up, and I am pretty sure different consumers will state valid reasons for preferring one to the other. Based on my experience, I'm going to cast my vote for Walmart.com by a small margin. Both sites excel in certain areas, but the bottom- line for me is overall price (base cost, plus shipping, plus tax) and Walmart.com beats Target.com in the area of price for most merchandise. Of course, it is always a good idea to logon to both sites and make a direct price comparison before assuming that one is better than the other. But if my past experience is any indication, Walmart.com offers slightly better deals most of the time and it earns a slightly higher recommendation from me in this online superstore showdown.

Final Score: 3.5 stars out of 5 for Walmart.com; 3 stars out of 5 for Target.com

To read individual reviews for Walmart.com and Target.com, follow these links:

WalMart.com

Target.com