Retailers roll out their holiday plans

Associated Press

NEW YORK

Wal-Mart and Target, two of the biggest U.S. retailers, rolled out plans Thursday to lure shoppers into stores during the holiday season that include discounts, stepped-up marketing and spiffed-up stores.

The moves illustrate how important the holiday shopping season is to retailers. It’s a roughly two-month period that accounts on average for 20 percent of the retail industry’s annual sales.

Wal-Mart and Target, in particular, have a lot to prove this holiday season. Both are heading into the holiday shopping season with turnaround plans they launched after being battered by the economy and their own mistakes.

Target’s turnaround is gaining more traction than Wal-Mart’s. In August, Target raised its annual profit for the year and reported its fourth-straight gain in revenue at stores open at least a year, a key industry figure. The results are evidence that CEO Brian Cornell’s efforts to spruce up Target’s fashions and home decor are paying off.

Meanwhile, Wal-Mart announced earlier this month that revenue for the current fiscal year would be flat, down from its previous forecast for sales growth of 1 percent to 2 percent. And it now expects profit to fall as much as 12 percent for next fiscal year as spending on e-commerce operations and higher wages squeeze the bottom line.

Both Wal-Mart and Target said discounting will be key. Wal-Mart says it will be offering price cuts, or what it refers to as “rollbacks,” starting Nov. 1, on thousands of holiday products that will last at least 90 days. That’s the same time as a year ago. It also says it will offer fewer “weekend” only deals.

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.

Wal-Mart is sticking with free shipping with a $50 minimum – the same as last year. The retailer is encouraging online shoppers whose orders fall below the minimum to pick them up at the store.

Target is bringing back free shipping for the holidays – without any restrictions. It will waive the $25 minimum threshold starting Sunday, and it will end Dec. 25. Last week, Best Buy, the nation’s largest consumer electronics chain, said that it would drop its $35 minimum to qualify for free shipping.