How to find Walmart grocery clearance

Rollback vs clearance

Walmart has two kinds of price cuts on the shelf, and they mean different things.

A rollback is a temporary price reduction, usually paid for by the supplier. It tends to last a few weeks and then the price goes back up. Rollbacks are often the same across many stores.

Clearance is the store getting rid of stock it will not reorder. That includes seasonal candy after a holiday, discontinued flavors, packaging changes, and overstock. Once it sells out, it is gone. Clearance prices can drop more than once while the item sits on the shelf.

Why prices differ store by store

Clearance is set store by store. Two Walmarts in the same town can have different prices on the same item, and one may have something on clearance that the other still sells at full price.

Walmart.com often does not show the in-store markdown at all, and the online price is not always the price at your store. If you want to know what a specific store charges, you have to check that store.

This is also why it pays to know more than one Walmart. If you pass two on your regular routes, check both.

Where clearance hides in the store

Walmart does not always have one clearance aisle for groceries. Look in these places.

• End caps at the ends of the grocery aisles.
• The very back of the grocery aisles, where clearance often gets moved.
• The seasonal aisle, especially in the first week after a holiday, when seasonal food drops furthest.
• Top and bottom shelves, where discontinued items get pushed aside before they are cleared out.
• The meat case and the bakery, for reduced stickers on items close to their date.

Reduced meat and bakery

Fresh meat and bakery items close to their date get reduced stickers on top of everything else. These are not in any ad and are not online. They are often the best grocery deal in the store, because a reduced roast or pack of chicken thighs costs less per serving than almost anything else you can buy.

Many stores do not publish when they mark down. Many shoppers report finding reduced meat in the morning, but it varies by store, so ask the meat department or try a few different times.

Check the pack before you buy. It should be cold, sealed, and free of off smells. Plan to cook it within a day or two, or freeze it when you get home.

How to check the price at your store

A clearance tag on the shelf is not always matched to the item in front of it, especially after a reset. If the price matters, check it before you get to the register.

• Use a price scanner in the store if your Walmart has one.
• Set your home store in the Walmart app. Many shoppers use the app’s barcode scanner to check the price at that store.
• If a clearance tag rings up wrong, ask a customer service associate to check it.

What to buy and what to skip

Build dinner around the protein that is marked down. That is where the real savings are.

Frozen vegetables and canned beans rarely go on clearance, but Great Value prices are already low, so pair them with whatever protein is reduced. Rice, pasta, and tortillas in the store brand are the same story.

Seasonal clearance is mostly snacks and baking. Treat it as a bonus, not as dinner. Baking items like flour, sugar, chocolate chips, and canned pumpkin can be a good stock-up after the holidays if you actually bake.

Seeing Walmart markdowns from home

Penny Meals reads Walmart shelf prices store by store from DealHawk’s in-store price checks and compares them with what the same store charged before. Enter your ZIP code and it shows which grocery items dropped at the Walmarts near you, so you can see the shelf price at your store instead of the online one.

Questions

What is the difference between Walmart rollback and clearance?

A rollback is a temporary price cut, usually paid for by the supplier, that lasts a few weeks. Clearance is the store selling off stock it will not reorder, and the price can drop more than once before it sells out.

Is Walmart clearance the same at every store?

No. Clearance is set store by store, so two Walmarts in the same town can have different prices on the same item. Walmart.com often does not show in-store clearance.

Does Walmart mark down meat?

Yes. Fresh meat and bakery items close to their date get reduced stickers in the store. They are not online, and the timing varies, so ask your store’s meat department.

Where is the grocery clearance at Walmart?

Check end caps, the back of the grocery aisles, the seasonal aisle after a holiday, and the meat case and bakery for reduced stickers.

This week’s markdowns

• Walmart markdowns this week

Cheap recipes

• Dinners under $3 a serving
• Cheap pork and sausage dinners
• Cheap chicken dinners
• All recipes

Related guides

• How to find grocery clearance near you
• How to buy reduced for quick sale meat safely
• How to feed a family on $50 a week