Walmart is testing online. Are you?

An article in the New Yawk Times this week describes how Wal-Mart is testing higher priced items online and may place successful items in its stores.

"Over the last few weeks, it has added luxury items to its Web site as a test. The online store still caters overwhelmingly to buyers' appetite for low-cost deals, from $18 six-packs of boxer shorts to $15 roller-skate kits, just as its stores do. But now, if you look hard, you can also find a Hyundai 60-inch plasma TV with a built-in digital tuner for $7,688, a gift basket of 1,000 fine chocolates for $248 and 100 percent cashmere scarves for $98.88."

What is hinted at in the article is that online customers of Wal-Mart may be different than those of its retail stores. Of course, many are the same people, but the stores may attract a lower income audience that does not shop online, and the web site may attract a higher income, deal-seeking audience that does not shop retail.

Are you recognizing that (a) your online and offline audiences are very similar, in which case you may be able to test some copy or other marketing ideas online faster and with less risk than you can in the mail, or (b) you have significant differences between your two audiences, in which case you need to differentiate your offers while still retaining your overall brand identity?

If you are experimenting in either direction, please let us know.