For most players, it's been incredibly difficult to get their hands on any of the new consoles since they launched mid-November. Overall, stock for the PS5, Xbox Series S, and Xbox Series X have been extremely limited at major retailers to the point where it's become a bit of a running joke with SNL poking fun at the situation. However, now it seems Walmart has a new plan of action when it comes to selling the consoles: making them only available to purchase online.
According to GYX Deals on Twitter, Walmart will be making the move to sell next-gen consoles exclusively through its online storefront. This comes by way of a note being circulated to Walmart employees that states that any remaining stock within brick and mortar stores, as well as any that are delivered over the coming days should be sold, and that they will not be receiving any more units. For the foreseeable future, players looking to purchase a PS5 or Xbox Series X from Walmart will have to do so online.
Walmart has had a sorted history with its online sales of next-gen consoles this year. Perhaps most notably, the major retailer jumped the gun and began taking pre-orders for the PS5 ahead of Sony's planned launch time. This caused an avalanche of other retailers like Amazon, GameStop, and Target to also begin taking pre-orders so as to not to be outdone by Walmart, which in turn made for a very sloppy and hectic pre-order process.
Walmart's online market has been difficult for players to work with as they've attempted to acquire their new console of choice. While the world's largest retailer has done a decent job of letting players know in advance when they can expect more PS5s and Xbox's in stock, the Walmart website itself has had a difficult time keeping up with the demand. Frequently since next-gen consoles launched, players have found Walmart's website crashing on them during the checkout process. To make matters worse, it seems like a recurring theme that once the site regains its sense of stability, all of the consoles are once again sold out.
While moving to an online-only sales model may work well for Walmart in terms of having a large availability of units to sell worldwide, there is one major concern that players could have. Since the launches of the PS5 and Xbox Series X, players have seen an uptick in mail theft with some reporting that they received only an empty box with no consoles. And with other popular storefronts like Amazon having a difficult time finding suitable replacement units for these customers, Walmart may have a bit of an uphill battle to sell players on this sales model.