Walmart will discontinue its ad match policy in 500 stores, none in Arkansas

Walmart said it plans to discontinue the ad match program which takes place at the register in select stores as part of its low price guarantee. Beginning June 9, about 500 U.S. stores will no longer offer price matching as it has instead opted to increase the number of price rollbacks on thousands of items for extended periods of time.

John Forrest Ales, corporate spokesman, told Talk Business & Politics that none of the Arkansas stores will be impacted by this change. He said Walmart remains committed to low prices, and shoppers in the select stores will begin seeing lower prices ahead of the June 9 policy change.

This new policy also comes at a time when Walmart executives have said they will begin to more aggressively lower prices with more rollbacks across the store for extended time periods. The company said in its recent earnings announcement that it would begin lowering prices in the next quarter, nearly a year ahead of schedule.

Walmart will continue to operate its Savings Catcher price match program that compares against competitors sale prices for some items. Meat and produce are not covered by Savings Catcher.

Couponing websites indicate fraud as the likely reason for the policy change. Walmart did not confirm that statement.