Walmart launching its own sale this week to rival Amazon Prime Day

If Amazon is to be the king of discounts for July, with the announcement of Amazon Prime Day on July 15, they are going to first have to deal with Walmart, which announced today its own plans for a major sale launching this week.

This week, Walmart plans to kick off "some awesome deals" that will be available for everybody "with no hidden costs or admission fees," Walmart announced, "and it won't be for just one day." According to the retailer, thousands of items in categories including electronics, home, baby, and toys, will be discounted online as "rollbacks." The discounts for items included in this week's sale, should they follow Walmart's typical rollback period, should last for 90 days. The company also mentioned "some special atomic deals," but we'll have to wait for more details on that.

Clearly taking aim at Amazon Prime Day, Walmart's President and CEO Fernando Madeira made some snide remarks in a post on the company blog today.

"We’ve heard some retailers are charging $100 to get access to a sale. But the idea of asking customers to pay extra in order to save money just doesn’t add up for us," he said, clearly referencing Amazon's requirement that you must be an Amazon Prime membership to take advantage of the deals on July 15th.

"We’re standing up for our customers and everyone else who sees no rhyme or reason for paying a premium to save," he added. Accompanying his post was an image that boldly states, "You shouldn't have to pay $100 to get great deals."

While Madeira is technically right in that the sale is for Amazon Prime members only, the online retailer will be offering customers a free 30-day membership to take advantage of the sales. Not to mention, the membership provides perks that exceed far beyond a single day of sales — like unlimited movie and television streaming with Prime Instant Video, unlimited music streaming with Prime Music, and, of course, free two-day shipping. To combat Amazon Prime's consumer-friendly shipping policy, Walmart will roll back their free shipping minimum order to $35 from $50.

"Low prices, no hidden fees or premiums, plus savings for everyone – now that’s something we can all celebrate," Madeira concluded.

Walmart's big sale will begin on July 15th, the same day as Amazon Prime Day; however, their sales look to continue well beyond the single day.