As the biggest retailer in America, Walmart has quite a few tricks up its sleeves that boost sales and make you spend a lot more than you initially intended (sounds familiar?).
One such practice is the Walmart Rollback. But, exactly is a rollback, and who does it work?
A Walmart rollback in the simplest of terms is a temporary sale. Rollback prices are discounts on specific items agreed upon by the supplier for up to 10 -12 weeks.
By lowering the prices for various items temporarily, Walmart offers much better value for customers who can, for a limited amount of time, buy their favorites for much cheaper than before.
The rollback scheme works great for the consumers and the retailer, who then enjoys a boost in sales on other products after attracting customers into the store with rollback.
Read on if you want to learn everything about a rollback and how you can buy items for the best value from Walmart.
How Long Do Rollback Prices Last?
There is no set amount of time for rollback prices to last. However, usually, you can enjoy rollback prices on selected items for up to 90 days.
The fact that there is no specific time limit to the rollback and that it could go back to its original price at any time works as an excellent marketing tool by making customers go for more products for a limited discounted price.
The typical 90-day rollback price limit creates a sense of urgency since the buyers stepping into the store do not know when the prices will go back to their original costs.
Is Walmart Rollback The Same As Clearance?
Since Walmart offers rollback as a way of selling various products at a temporarily discounted price, you may confuse it with clearance. However, they are very different from each other.
When you see the words clearance sale on any item, it means that the retailer intends to sell everything in stock.
This is usually done when a contract with a specific vendor has expired or an upgraded version of a particular product is ready to be stocked. When items are sold in clearance sales, the store does not restock them.
However, rollback products are usually ones that are overstocked or outdated. Some other reasons for a rollback on a particular item are that either a new version of the product will soon be available or the item is not selling as fast as the retailer would like.
Often, the products with reduced prices during a rollback are overpriced compared to the competitors. Thus, rollback does not serve the same purpose as a clearance sale.
While clearance is to clear the item off the store shelves, rollback encourages impulse buying for a pre-set amount of time. If rollback would be an indefinite sale, it will not urge the buyers to purchase products while the decreased prices last.
Moreover, rollback items are regularly restocked, unlike clearance sale items. The duration for a rollback is often as long as the stocks last.
Other times, when the retailer determines the impulse buying period is over, the item’s prices are set to their original price, regardless of the number of stocks available.
Rollback Vs. Clearance: At A Glance
| Rollback | Clearance | |
| 1. | Price reduction is temporary. | Price reduction is permanent. |
| 2. | Discounted price lasts for up to 90 days. | Discounted price remains till stocks last. |
| 3. | Rollback items are restocked. | Clearance items are not restocked. |
| 4. | Red, orange, and white tags indicate rollback items. | Yellow stickers are used for clearance items. |
What Type Of Items Get Rolled Back Most Frequently?
Several kinds of items sold in Walmart for some years are eligible for rollback. From electronic equipment to pet care to household items, any product can have its price rollback to move it off the shelves faster than it would have without the price decrease.
However, the most frequent items whose prices are rolled back are food and perishable items.
The biggest reason for perishable products being top rollback items is that if the stock is not sold before the best-by date, the excess stock cannot be sold. Thus, food items are usually given the rollback treatment to prevent any sticks from being spoiled.
Moreover, the lowered prices also cause consumers to bulk-buy stuff they ordinarily skip on their grocery runs. Great value on food items often gives buyers incentive to put extra things in their grocery baskets.
Where Do You Get Information About Rolled Back Items?
There is no specific pattern that Walmart follows while choosing rollback items. When any store product is rolled back, its choice and duration depend on various factors.
Therefore, to get the best bargain, you need to check what items are rolled back constantly. This is easy to do for regular customers that make frequent grocery runs.
However, you can find out what items have been rolled back easily through Walmart.com on their Rollback page. Here you can also check the item’s availability at various nearby Walmart locations.
How Does Rollback Help Walmart, Vendors, And Customers?
We have already talked about how the marketing technique of rollback helps Walmart by boosting their sales. Even though Walmart sells rollback items at a loss than the original price, it still sells much more of them.
Moreover, the discounted prices work wonders in getting more buyers through the doors, who ultimately spend on other products.
Moreover, customers enjoy even lower prices than Walmart’s promise of great regular value. As for vendors, this marketing strategy helps them get rid of overpriced or overstocked items that may otherwise go to waste.
Bottom Line
Walmart rollback is the marketing practice adopted by the retailer to usually fast-track the selling of overstocked, overpriced, outdated stock. All kinds of products have their prices rolled for anywhere up to 90 days.
This allows Walmart to sell much more products than usual and gain new customers thanks to a temporary price dip.
Unlike clearance, rollback products are restocked if available since the price drop is not permanent. A Walmart rollback aims to boost sales and push items faster out of the store by presenting temporary deals that are too good to pass.