Tag Archives: wmt

Wal-Mart wants to buy your unwanted gift cards

Starting Christmas Day online, Wal-Mart (WMT) will let customers exchange unwanted gift cards from more than 200 retailers, restaurants and other businesses for Wal-Mart cards, which can be used online or in stores. Wal-Mart has partnered with CardCash, the leading online marketplace for gift card exchanges and discounted gift cards, for the initiative. The Wal-Mart gift card exchange program is a test, but could become a permanent service if if successful, the AP reported Wednesday. Shoppers won’t get the full value of their gift cards to use at Wal-Mart, however. Some brands will be worth just 70% of the original card value. Others are closer to full value, such as Amazon.com (AMZN) cards (up to 95% of original value) and Staples (SPLS) cards (up to 90%). Research and advisory firm CEB (CEB) estimates that gift card sales will top $124 billion this year, up 5% over 2013. About…

‘Wearables’ a hot buzzword this holiday; Fitbit leads

This holiday season, consumers are learning that “wearables” are technology devices, not ugly Christmas sweaters or other apparel. You know the term has gone mainstream when actress Melissa Joan Hart casually drops it in a Wal-Mart (WMT) commercial. “Tablets, wearables, cameras, all at Black Friday prices,” she says in the Nov. 24 TV ad. In the commercial, she shows off a Fitbit wrist band. A consumer poll by Pacific Crest Securities out Monday found high interest in wearable devices, including fitness trackers and smartwatches, this holiday season.

Cyber Monday Sales Sluggish — Why It’s No Big Deal

Cyber Monday used to be a major event for online retailers, but this year it was uneventful as earlier discounts spread consumer shopping over a longer period. The onslaught of advertised Web-based discounts from Amazon.com (AMZN), Best Buy (BBY), Wal-Mart Stores (WMT) and others a week before Thanksgiving Day, Black Friday and Cyber Monday could be the primary reason sales growth on those key online shopping days cooled