Walmart.com is a spin-off of Wal-Mart stores, which owns a 50% interest in its Internet equivalent. Yesterday, Walmart.com re-launched its site after a month-long hiatus spent improving site design and technology. This is the third generation of Walmart.com since the company's launch in July 1996. The makeover comes in anticipation of the holiday shopping season, and on the heels of competitors' e-commerce sites making waves on the Web. Target Corp. unveiled its newly redesigned site last Friday, and K-Mart's Bluelight.com has been gaining steam after a fairly quiet launch earlier this year.

Walmart.com's new site has done away with the smaller products that sell in real-world stores. Instead, the site is focusing on durable items with higher price tags. Windex is out and expanded sporting goods and electronics offerings are in. According to Jupiter Communications, Walmart.com scored 1.4 million hits during the month of September, the last full month the site was operational. Bluelight.com and Target.com drew two million and 1.5 million visitors, respectively.