We compared Walmart’s new prices to Target and Kroger

Walmart and Sam’s Club revealed on July 6 that they are lowering their prices across the country to help shoppers save money on common products this summer. 

Walmart is cutting prices on thousands of products, including groceries, household essentials, toys, and clothes. At the same time, Sam’s Club is dropping prices on more than 250 items focused on road trips and grilling, while also keeping its gas prices low. 

These cheaper prices can be found in their physical stores, on their websites, or through their shopping apps, the company said in the press release. 

Examples of specific savings listed in the press release include:

• 1 lb. 73% Ground Beef Roll, Fresh ($5.94, was $6.74)
• Fresh Red Cherries 2.25 lb. bag ($5.63, was $11.18)
• Great Value Ice Cream 48 fl. oz ($2.50, was $2.97)
• Frito-Lay Family Fun Variety Pack, 18-count ($8.97, was $9.97)
• Coca-Cola, Diet Coke, and Coca-Cola Zero Sugar 24-packs ($9.97, was $14.97)
• Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, Dr Pepper and Diet Mountain Dew 24-packs ($9.97, was $13.97)

How do Walmart’s rollbacks compare to other retailers’ prices? 

For regular Walmart shoppers, these price cuts are welcome news, especially if you are a deal hunter whose wallet is squeezed due to inflation. 

TheStreet dug deeper to see how much the products currently on discount at Walmart cost at the other two giant retailers, Target and Kroger. Prices were pulled live on July 9, 2026.

Summer grocery price comparison: Walmart vs. Target vs. Kroger 

Business Insider conducted a similar investigation, comparing Walmart’s promotional prices against Kroger’s and Amazon’s. The outlet’s review also confirmed that Walmart offered the lowest overall grocery bill with the latest summer promotional discounts.  

While Amazon lagged behind in value, Kroger proved to be highly competitive if shoppers took advantage of its rotating member coupons rather than standard shelf prices.

Which of 35 grocery chains generally offers the best deals?

A recent, massive 2026 supermarket price study conducted by Consumer Reports analyzed baskets of common groceries across 35 chains to find out which one saves shoppers the most. 

This survey, it should be noted, took place before Walmart cut its prices.

The study compared prices in six cities representative of their regions. The review, done prior to Walmart’s latest promotional offering, revealed that Costco Wholesale, BJ’s Wholesale Club, Lidl, Aldi, WinCo, and H-E-B are typically the most affordable. 

Here is the entire list, showcasing the average price difference versus Walmart, which served as a baseline across all locations: 

• Costco Wholesale: -21.4%
• BJ’s Wholesale Club: -21.0%
• Lidl: -8.5%
• Aldi: -8.3%
• WinCo: -3.3%
• H-E-B: -0.2%
• Walmart: Baseline
• Market Basket: +1.2%
• Target: +5.9%
• Wegmans: +7.6%
• King Soopers: +7.9%
• Safeway: +8.8%
• Food 4 Less: +9.0%
• Meijer: +9.9%
• Food Lion: +12.5%
• Hannaford: +13.2%
• Kroger: +14.8%
• Stater Bros.: +15.6%
• Save A Lot: +19.3%
• Publix: +20.3%
• Fiesta: +21.7%
• Ralphs: +21.9%
• Stop & Shop: +22.2%
• Piggly Wiggly: +22.6%
• Harris Teeter: +23.5%
• Trader Joe’s: +24.6%
• Albertsons: +24.8%
• Tom Thumb: +25.4%
• Big Y: +26.2%
• Vons: +26.6%
• Mariano’s: +27.6%
• Jewel-Osco: +29.7%
• El Rancho: +30.1%
• Shaw’s: +31.9%
• Whole Foods: +39.7%

Reactions to Walmart’s and Sam’s Club’s recent price cuts 

Following Walmart’s price cut announcements, President Donald Trump weighed in with a post on Truth Social.

“I have just been informed that one of the biggest, best, and smartest Retailers in America, Walmart, will be lowering prices, by a lot, at my Administration’s request to celebrate our great Country’s 250th birthday.

“Walmart is stepping up in a big and bold way, and other Retailers should follow the lead of these absolute Patriots,” the president added, wrote Barron’s. 

A Walmart representative told MarketWatch that Walmart’s price rollback typically lasts about 90 days, Morningstar noted. 

Meanwhile, following the price-cut announcement, Mizuho analyst David Bellinger reiterated his “outperform” rating on the stock, saying that Walmart already confirmed these exact price cuts in its corporate guidance. 

Related: Discount grocery giant shuts 100 stores, completely exits 3 states

“Bellinger highlighted that Walmart has massive financial flexibility right now because it is receiving over $2 billion in tariff refunds from the U.S. government, which it is funneling directly into store discounts,” wrote Investing.com. 

While many analysts expected these price cuts, a number of them are now predicting price wars among popular retailers. 

“Grocery will get even more competitive in the second half. With Kroger, Albertsons, Costco, and Dollar Tree (more visible $1 price points) all being very vocal about price investments, this announcement will heighten concerns about a price war,” said Wolfe Research’s Spencer Hanus, as reported by Barron’s. 

Hanus also noted that Walmart price rollbacks were already up some 20% in the first quarter, and that is projected to accelerate in the coming quarters. 

However, the challenge that regular shoppers are completely fed up and exhausted because grocery prices have gone up by 33% over the last few years, wrote Barron’s Teresa Rivas. 

So, what exactly are consumers saying? 

Walmart shoppers react to latest price drops

I reviewed a recent Reddit thread sharing the news on Walmart’s latest price cuts and the discussion around it. 

A review of the highest-voted comments in a Reddit discussion of roughly 476 comments showed that sentiment was overwhelmingly skeptical toward Walmart’s announcement, despite the underlying news being positive.

The Reddit conversation quickly shifted from “cheaper groceries” to broader debates about corporate pricing, inflation, politics, and whether the announcement is genuine or simply a marketing ploy. 

While some users were cynical and joked around how Walmart is only discounting items with the letter “B” (from beef to backpacks), the more serious comments argue that the retailer is only rolling back prices because a drop in public assistance benefits and general shopper exhaustion caused a dip in the retailer’s foot traffic. 

Although the Reddit user was correct that public assistance cuts have hurt lower-income households’ budgets, available Placer.ai data suggest that Walmart’s overall foot traffic has continued to grow, which doesn’t support the claim that shoppers are abandoning the chain. 

“Cutting prices back to where they were two years ago isn’t a discount, it’s just admitting they were gouging us in the first place,” wrote user ugliestmartyrdom43. This was among the most common themes in the discussion.

“Sounds like PR bullshit. WinCo and Costco have better prices 95% of the time,” wrote user buddhistbulgyo.

Reddit user awildjabroner wrote a comment that resonated with more than 400 users in this thread.

“Further proof that the cost of living and inflation issues are largely due to corporate price gouging. WM has no issues raising prices across the board to capitalize on more affluent demographics shopping there more, but now that the cut in snap and other public benefits is not buoying up their largest customer base a major revenue stream has dried up… so they just walk back the price gouging a bit because they always could,” they wrote. 

What Walmart’s price cuts really mean for shoppers

Walmart’s latest price cuts appear to offer real savings on many everyday items, particularly when compared with standard prices at Target and Kroger. However, broader pricing studies suggest that shoppers who are willing to compare stores or buy in bulk can often still find lower prices elsewhere. 

More importantly, consumer reaction shows that many shoppers remain focused less on today’s discounts than on how much grocery costs have increased over the past several years.

Whether these promotions improve public perception or simply intensify competition among major retailers will likely depend on how long the lower prices last and whether rival chains respond with deeper discounts of their own.

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