Brick-and-Mortar: are we in or are we out?

Back in the not so distant past, the goal of brick-and-mortar stores was to get customers into the building. The thought seemed to be that even if customers were just picking up a couple of items, chances are good that walking through the aisles to find the item you came for, you might be prompted to buy other things. 

Are we in or out?

Grocery stores and big box stores spend real money to set up their sites with certain items in certain places so that customers will be more apt to pick those items.  In grocery stores, there’s a reason that milk, eggs and refrigerated items are in the back of the store.  Customers walk through other aisles to get those items and chances are good that they’ll see other items and buy them. Right?

So help me understand.

I found an item on Walmart.com.  It was an office supply item. Normally priced at $19.97, the item was listed on Walmart.com for a sale price of $6.49, a savings of $13.48.  Nice discount.  Options are: Shipping to my home for an extra fee or In-store pick up. I noticed the item was also in stock at my local brick-and-mortar Walmart and so on my way to work one morning, I headed over.   Once in the store, the item was on the shelf but was listed at its full price of $19.97.  Nothing to indicate a discount. 

The price check kiosks that used to be part of many retailers seem to be a feature of the past, so I took the item from the shelf and walked over to customer care where an associate was stationed. I explained the situation and pointed out the difference between the price listed on Walmart.com and the price in the store.

She was friendly and apologetic and went on to explain that sometimes prices on the website are discounted and different from the in-store prices. I asked if the price could be matched and she politely said no. I asked her why, and she responded that she really wasn’t sure.  She was friendly about it, and seemed empathic to my situation, and was ultimately unable to really help me buy the item right there.  My option was to pay full price in the store or go online and buy it there for in-store pick up.  

I walked back through the store, returned the item to the shelf, jumped onto the Walmart.com website on my phone and, standing next to the item, purchased it for $6.49. No shipping charges. The instructions on the site indicated that I could pick up the item in the Walmart parking lot after 3:30pm.   Which I did.  Later that same day, I parked in one of the reserved parking spots for customer pickup and used the Walmart app to indicate that I had arrived.  After waiting for about 15 minutes, a Walmart associate came out, apologized for the wait, and after scanning the code on my phone, handed over the item.  He even gave me an awkward fist bump to thank me.

From a customer service perspective, I have questions:

- Why does Walmart have discounts on Walmart.com that are not the same in the store?

- Why, if a customer takes the time to come to the store, would Walmart not offer the online, discounted price?

- Finally, once at the brick-and-mortar Walmart store, why am I picking up the item outside in the parking lot?

What am I missing here? What are your thoughts?