NEW YORK (Reuters) - Walmart.com, hoping U.S. consumers did not get their fill of shopping over the long Thanksgiving weekend, will roll out more holiday deals online every day this week.
By Nicole Maestri
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Walmart.com, hoping U.S. consumers did not get their fill of shopping over the long Thanksgiving weekend, will roll out more holiday deals online every day this week.
The site will offer special prices on 150 items -- three times more than a year ago -- posting roughly 65 discounts on Monday and then adding new deals to the site daily through Friday.
Walmart.com will also promote one special "featured" item each day, like Monday's Xbox 360 bundle, which includes Microsoft's <MSFT.O> Xbox 360 premium video game console, an extra controller, three games and messenger bag for less than
!ADVERTISEMENT!$400.
The expanded offering of online-only deals comes as Wal-Mart Stores Inc <WMT.N> is relying more heavily on its Web site to drive sales and promote low prices this holiday season.
This year, it posted special deals online on the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday, attracting roughly 10 million visitors -- a significant jump from its typical traffic of 2 million daily visits during other times of the year.
Walmart.com said sales were up more than 40 percent on Thanksgiving, compared with a year ago.
Raul Vazquez, the CEO of Walmart.com, said the retailer expects 7 million visits to its Web site on Monday.
Wal-Mart will certainly not be alone in trying to attract shoppers online this week to spend more of their holiday dollars.
According to a Shop.org/Shopzilla eHoliday Survey, 72.2 percent of online retailers are planning a special promotion for Monday, up from 42.7 percent two years ago.
Promotions will range from specific deals, to one-day sales, to free shipping on all purchases, the survey found.
With consumers facing economic pressures this holiday, Vazquez said Walmart.com is offering deals that cover a range of prices, from a Thomas the Tank Engine playhut for $10, which is almost 50 percent off, to a Samsung 40-inch LCD high- definition television for $1,198 -- a 10 percent savings.
Walmart.com said some of its most popular selling items on Thanksgiving Day were the Garmin <GRMN.O> Nuvi 650 portable global positioning system, a Canon 7.1 megapixel PowerShot digital camera and photo printer bundle and the Power Wheels Ford F150 pickup truck from Mattel Inc's <MAT.N> Fisher-Price division.
(Editing by Maureen Bavdek)
