Walmart has become a player in the dispute between Amazon and Disney in which Amazon has taken down preorder buttons on Disney and Marvel home video titles (see “Amazon Takes on Disney”), by aggressively pricing pre-orders on Disney and Marvel home video titles to attract customers unable to order the titles from Amazon.  The strategy has Walmart taking preorders on the DVD for Captain America:  The Winter Soldier at $14.96, around 50% off the list price of $29.99.  The Blu-ray versions are being sold at around 25% off. 

Walmart is selling the BD of the first season of Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. at $54.96, 31% off the list price of $79.99. 

The strategy is working, a Walmart spokesperson told Home Media Magazine.  “We kicked off a promotion this week to customers to let them know that we have sought-after Disney titles and the response has been strong, with a 90% increase in combined DVD and Blu-ray sales of Marvel’s Captain America;  The Winter Soldier, and a 40% increase in sales for other Disney titles,” the spokesperson said. 

The dispute between Amazon and Disney is over a number of issues beyond pricing, according to the Wall Street Journal, including promotion, placement on the website, and the question of which company takes the hit when Amazon price-matches competitors.  Amazon wants Disney to eat the cost when it’s forced to match sale prices from Walmart, Best Buy, and other mass merchants and loses money. 

These are the same issues that led Amazon to pull pre-order buttons on Warner Bros. titles, and on titles from Warners distribution client Viz Media (see “Amazon Pulls Pre-order Buttons on Warners, Viz Videos”), according to the Journal.  That dispute was resolved after a relatively short period (see “Amazon Supplier Wars Update”), but this one may go longer as Disney has a rep for not giving in easily.

Walmart’s strategy is similar to the one pursued by Barnes & Noble in aggressively pricing Yen manga and other Hachette titles against Amazon during its dispute with Hachette (see “B&N Selling Hachette GNs at 54-57% Off”).  But in the home video world, Walmart is #1; while in books, Amazon is the market leader.  Walmart’s aggressiveness is likely to make up more of the difference in Amazon’s sales on Disney and Marvel home video titles, and reduce the pain Amazon is trying to inflict.