Wal-Mart tackling sluggish sales
Newspaper campaign as non-food sales stall
Wal-Mart has continued to see slower non-food sales in its US stores over the past week.
The world’s biggest retailer has launched a newspaper advertising campaign across the US, aiming to increase sluggish consumer demand in the all-important run-up to Christmas.
In the week to December 4, Wal-Mart said that while its stores continued to see strong food sales, “general merchandise sales were not as strong”. The company said that average basket size rather than any increase in customer traffic drove sales growth across the week, and significantly did not identify any strongly-performing non-food categories, changing its usual practice.
The retail giant is sticking with its forecast of a comparative store sales increase for US stores in December of between 1 to 3 per cent.
The newspaper ad campaign, an unusual move for the company which normally uses TV advertising and leaflet drops, is highlighting promotions on a range of products including toys and portable DVD players.
