US retailers extended discounts on computers, toys and clothes beyond Christmas to lure consumers who held out for lower prices and have gift cards to redeem.
Toys “R” Us Inc shoppers who buy a Nintendo Wii video game can buy a second game for half price. Target Corp offered a set of six wine glasses for $8.98, down from $17.99 and reduced the price of a cotton-blend argyle women’s sweater to $17.50 from $25.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc, which started cutting holiday toy prices September 30, is trying to keep consumers coming back by offering a $50 gift card on purchases of Microsoft Corp’s Xbox 360 players through January 1. Promotions intensified after last weekend’s East Coast snowstorm hurt sales going into Christmas.
“We are going to be very aggressive, we’ve been aggressive all season,” Toys “R” Us Chief Executive Officer Jerry Storch said by telephone December 23 from Wayne, New Jersey, where the largest US toy chain is based.
Target, based in Minneapolis, declined 20 cents to $48.65 on December 24 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. Bentonville, Arkansas-based Walmart climbed 28 cents to $53.60.
The Washington-based National Retail Federation was holding to its forecast for a 1 per cent drop in holiday sales, Ellen Davis, a spokeswoman, said Decembre 20. The International Council of Shopping Centers reiterated on December 22 its forecast for a 2 per cent increase in sales at stores open at least a year in December, after reporting that the storm slowed growth to 0.4 per cent year over year in the week ended December 19.
Stephanie Ruiz, 41, stopped at the Target store in Alexandria, Virginia, yesterday to pick up some gifts that last weekend’s snowstorm prevented her from buying.
Also Read
“We were snowed in for two days and could not leave the house,” she said. “At that point we decided to just wait for after-Christmas sales.”
Ruiz, who was shopping for clothes, movies and gift cards, checked online to make sure the items she wanted were available at the store before setting out, she said.
Fifty-five percent of mothers who shop at Walmart said they like to receive gift cards over the holidays because it allows them to shop the after-Christmas savings, according to a survey conducted by BIGresearch this month. Two out of five moms planning to use their gift cards right away say they will shop right after Christmas to get the best prices.