STEVE INSKEEP, host: NPR's business news starts with a holiday move by Wal-Mart.</s>STEVE INSKEEP, host: Consumers may look at this as an extra stocking stuffer, but for Wal-Mart's online rivals this could be the Grinch who stole a lot of Christmas sales. According to The New York Times, Wal-Mart is offering free shipping for many online purchases. Wal-Mart says it is serving penny-pinching customers. But the free shipping - which runs through December 20th - is considered a strike at Amazon, one of Wal-Mart's big online competitors.</s>STEVE INSKEEP, host: This move also hurts smaller online retailers who do not have the economic clout to promise free shipping.
Consumers may look at it as an extra stocking stuffer, but for Wal-Mart's online rivals it could be the grinch who stole a lot of Christmas sales. According to the New York Times, Wal-mart is offering free shipping for many online purchases. Wal-Mart says it's serving penny-pinching consumers. But the free shipping — which runs through Dec. 20 — is a strike at Amazon, one of Wal-Mart's big online competitors.