Walmart Moves Up Black Friday As Overall Retail Sales Expected To Be Weaker
As Walmart moves up Black Friday to Thanksgiving day itself, retailers nationwide are bracing for a smaller-than-usual boost from holiday shoppers.
As Reuters noted, customers will have chance to start their holiday shopping before the Thanksgiving leftovers have even cooled, as Walmart moves up Black Friday to 8 pm on Thursday. The retailer is loading up on electronic gadgets for its holiday shopping rush as it prepares to generate more than a quarter of its annual sales.
The news that Walmart moves up Black Friday is part of a trend of more retailers seeking ways to entice shoppers. Holiday shopping is expected to rise only 4.1 percent this year, Reuters noted, down from 5.6 percent growth last year.
Walmart hopes moving up Black Friday and featuring a load of gadgets and technology sales will bring in more shoppers.
“We bought deep, very deep, and we bought deep on items that matter to our customers,” said Walmart US Chief Merchandising and Marketing Officer Duncan Mac Naughton.
As I4U News reported, Walmart’s Black Friday deals are heavy in technology. The deals offered include Apple iPad 2 16GB with Wi-Fi for $399 plus (which also gives shoppers a $75 Walmart Gift Card), and Emerson 32” 720p LCD TV for $148, and an LG Blu-ray Player for $38.
Retailers are making attempts to push the Christmas shopping season back more and more. As Walmart moves up Black Friday, it also started layaway a month earlier, starting in mid-September. Sears plans to offer online access to many Black Friday deals to members of its loyalty plan from November 18 to November 19.
