Back To School Shopping? Already?

The other day I was having lunch with some friends and we got on the topic of "Back to School" shopping.  I know it seems early, but if you go into any store that sells anything remotely close to school supplies, like pencils, crayons, dog food, you will see what I mean.   In our discussion, two stores came up; Walmart and Staples.  One of my friends claimed that Staples had much better deals than Walmart, which of course, took me by surprise.

When I think of back to school shopping, I think of just popping in the car and heading to Walmart, like everybody else, right.  After thinking about it for a while, I realized that the reason my mind goes to Walmart, is that Walmart is my only choice for local deep discount shopping.  I don't want to drive 24 miles to the nearest Staples!  But do I have to?

After lunch I decided to see if the Staples deals were all that great, and to see if I could get those same deals online.  To be fair, I also checked Walmart.com to compare.  So, here we go.

Walmart is a true American success story.  They started out as a five and dime and have become the worlds largest retailer.  Their 100,000+ square foot stores can save you money on almost anything you purchase.  Sometimes the quality is a bit in question, but, you get what you pay for I guess.  As an online store, they really don't have a clue in my opinion. 

For being the worlds largest retailer you would think their web presence would be astounding.  You would think they could find the best of the best to program their sites.  Apparently they are shopping at the programmers equivalent of Walmart to get their discount programmers.  What an incredibly boring website.  It is also very confusing to navigate. This could be because of the amount of products they sell, but that should not be the consumer's problem.  You would think "Back to School" would be highlighted immediately on the first page.  I have a 22 inch screen and I had to scroll down just to find it, which is a cardinal sin of website design.  Overall, I decided to not make a purchase and if I need anything from Walmart, I'll just get in the car and make the trip.

Staples on the other hand has been paying attention the last fifteen years.  They have come from being a great retailer to becoming a great e-tailer!  Not only is their site striking to look at, it leads you to your products and allows you to explore their store quite easily.  Best of all, the "Back to School" deals are good on the website, and, if you spend $45 or more, shipping is free!  Who of us won't be spending that much this fall?

Just a quick note to add to all of this.  I am all about shopping locally and supporting the local small business owner.  At this time of year though, when you are buying multiple items and possibly a good quantity of them, you need to find the best deal.  If your local merchant can compete, wonderful, shop locally.  If not, you might find the best deals right on your laptop.

So, think outside of the box this year and look around for your back to school deals.  You may be surprised at what you find.