Walmart gears up for shopping season

New York - Walmart Stores said it will match rivals' prices on "Black Friday," upping the ante in the battle to win sales on what is considered to be the kick-off to the US holiday shopping season and a gauge of how overall holiday retail sales will shape up.

Walmart is one of the few retailers that will be open on Thanksgiving Day this year, seeking to get an edge over rivals amid what forecasters say will only be modest sales growth this year. Most Walmart stores will be open around the clock on Thursday.

Separately, Amazon.com on Monday launched an application on Apple's iPhone that it said allows shoppers to compare prices on a given item in brick-and-mortar stores with prices on its own website and gives them the option to instantly order the item through Amazon.