NEW YORK (AP) – Wal-Mart is promising it won’t be beat on prices this holiday season.
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Mr. Cornell acknowledged on Thursday that the holiday season is unfolding at a time when shoppers remain cautious and the battle for shoppers remains fierce.
The newspaper wrote that the company is counting on shoppers who want to avoid shipping charges to pick up online orders in-store or in store parking lots, “services the retailer expanded rapidly in recent months”.
“Our customers are looking for great deals no matter how they shop with us – whether in store, online or on their mobile device”, says Fernando Madeira, president and CEO, Walmart.com.
Wal-Mart and Target have not yet announced what time their stores would open for Thanksgiving weekend or what special deals would be offered during that time. Amazon.com Inc., meanwhile, doesn’t stray from its shipping policy during the holiday, offering it only on orders exceeding $35 for shoppers who aren’t Prime members. It will waive the $25 minimum threshold starting November 1 and it will end December 25. It also unveiled a new tool on its mobile app, allowing shoppers to check in when they arrive at the store to pick up their online orders. It is forecasting that about 75% of its online traffic will come from phones and tablets this holiday season.
In time for the winter holidays, Target will have experts working the store to make sure the products are displayed correctly and that mannequins have current fashions.
That’s up from 70 percent a year ago. The stores have been criticized for messy aisles and not having enough workers restock the shelves.
The discount retailer also said it has struck a deal with Borderfree Inc to ship products to 200 countries and territories outside the US during the holiday season.
Target didn’t provide specifics on its discounting, but in late September it said it would match its online prices with more than two dozen online competitors.
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“We feel good about our position”, he said. And while the chain has long rolled back prices for the holiday season on that early date, executives emphasized that this year they were going to “do without high-low pricing gimmicks”.
