Walmart

Walmart Stores and Sam’s Club, in partnership with The Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce and the Minority Supplier Development Council, will give local businesses an opportunity to sit with Walmart buyers and debut their products as a way to help provide an economic boost to local communities.

In head-to-head blind taste tests held by Consumer Reports, 23 store-brand foods were rated as tasting as good as -- or better than -- their national-brand counterparts, out of 29 food products.

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. said this week that its Web site, Walmart.com, has added nearly 1 million new items to its online product assortment with the launch of the new “Walmart Marketplace,” which enables a select group of retailers to offer additional products at Walmart.com.

In the wake of a recent round of price cuts implemented by a rival regional supermarket chain earlier this year, Dominick’s 81 stores in the Chicago area are implementing price cuts on everyday items that will be flagged with yellow tags alongside special discounts for loyalty card holders.

Walmart has deployed new bill payment services that enable shoppers to pay their utility, loans and similar bills in person at all of its locations in the U.S.

Sam’s Club is giving its members the chance to say goodbye to coupon clipping. The warehouse club division of Bentonville, Ark.-based Walmart has introduced of eValues, a personalized digital savings program providing paperless coupons.

Dannon wants consumers to view its yogurt as a key back-to-school staple, and so has launched a coupon promotion across several of its product lines.

Following a successful May pilot launch in Michigan, Walmart plans to offer a 90-day supply of about 300 generic prescriptions, each for $10 by free mail delivery, throughout the Midwest and Northeast.