Wal-Mart still facing tough market
Low demand for seasonal lines
Wal-Mart is still strugglng to achieve its sales targets as Christmas approaches.
In the week to Friday, December 10, the retail giant said that while food sales remain strong in the US, it continues to see weaker demand for general merchandise, with sales of winter related items below its expectations.
Part of the problem is the deep discounts launched by Wal-Mart to attract customers, which have hit its non-food turnover. The company has been facing strong competition for seasonal sales, and has stepped up its advertising and marketing accordingly.
Prices were lowered on two dozen items last week, including the [i]Shrek 2 [/i]DVD down to $14.77 from $19.96, and s Hotwheels Cyborg toy cut to $19.88 from $33.84.
However, the company said that any increase in same store sales last week was driven by increased spend rather than higher customer footfall, repeating the trend of recent weeks.
Wal-Mart is sticking to its forecast of a 1 to 3 per cent increase in US same store sales during December.
