The world's largest retailer is slipping stateside. Image: galaygobi/Flickr/CC BY

Walmart, the world’s leading box store, has been steadily losing customers in the United States. To lure shopper back, the store is using heavy coupon promotions and free samples on its website.

US sales on the decline

Though it is the largest retailer worldwide, Walmart’s revenue has been on the decline in the U.S. for more than two years now. The retail giant has been steadily losing business amid the rise in the popularity of the dollar store. Walmart’s holiday season last year was another disappointment that made stocks dip. Recently, press about the failed class action suit, which accused Walmart of discriminating against women employees, also damaged the mega store’s image.

Coupons and samples to lure shoppers

Walmart’s move to combat losses is to lean heavily on an old ploy, coupon promotions and free samples. But by concentrating the heaviest promotions on the store website, Walmart is attempting to adapt to the way consumers shop today. Walmart’s site, according to the research firm ComScore, was the 29th most visited site in the U.S. in May. The store is offering more coupons than ever and making the site more user-friendly. The site even offers a download for PCs to make it easier for customers to print out coupons.

Promotions from the site

The store’s site today showed bargains on everything from chili to specific movies on DVD and Blu-Ray. There was a giveaway of lens cleaner just for visiting the optical section at any store location. There were many larger discounts only available on the site. Items bought online can be picked up at store outlets for free or delivered for a small added fee.

Samples in stores

Walmart is offering a multitude of free samples in stores — the old try-it-before-you-buy-it approach. In-store events, promoted by calendars on the website, advertise multiple items which can be sampled. July’s promotions include coffee, cereal, yogurt, olives and more.

Sources

Daily Finance
AZ Central
Walmart

Sometimes people think of saving money as a monumental task involving lots of personal sacrifice. This does not have to be the case, however, for those willing to make minor changes, prevent the need for more payday loans, and begin saving money right away. The following are a few very simple tips that everyone can use to grow their savings.

Stop Using Credit Cards

By their very nature, credit cards increase debt. They also are great ways of wasting money on things like interest rates, finance charges and other fees. When these additional charges are avoided, more money is made available for actual saving. Those who make it a hard-fast rule to only purchase items that they can afford to pay for in cash find themselves closer to a debt-free reality and a larger savings account.

Only Spend Paper Money

Each time coins are received as change for purchases, do not spend this money later in the day. Instead, when other purchases are made throughout the day, pay for each one with paper currency and save all change received to be deposited in a piggy bank or a coin jar at the end of the day. People have reported amazing success in saving money in this way and some have even been able to bypass the need for car loans by purchasing vehicles with spare change that they have saved for several years.

Save a Few Dollars Every Day

By developing a habit of putting a few dollars in a jar each and every day, a person can save a lot of money. For example, if a person can develop the discipline of saving just five dollars every day, in a year’s time they can save $1,825. Some people may only choose to save a dollar each day and others may choose to save more, but this is a relatively painless way of saving that everyone can afford to do.

Stop Spending Money on Vices

Most have mentally calculated the money that they could save if they stopped buying a daily latte, a daily pack of cigarettes or lottery tickets every payday. However, those who are really motivated to save money not only put a halt to these vices, but they go an extra mile in actually placing the money that they would have spent on them in a jar or piggy bank and deposit that money into a separate savings account at regular intervals.

Clip Coupons

Coupons are offered online, they are delivered free to most homes, and major manufacturers make them available in the Sunday paper each week. Entire websites are devoted to finding coupons for items used every day and learning how to maximize their value. Some retailers will double the value of a coupon or even accept competitor coupons on certain items. Most people who try using coupons give up after forgetting to use them before they expire. However, this can be avoided by planning specific shopping days, writing out a list of items to be purchased and making a note next to those that a coupon can be applied to.

Anyone Can Save Money

Saving money doesn’t have to be a major inconvenience. By simply disciplining one’s self to set small amounts aside on a regular basis, most are surprised at how quickly these amounts turn into substantial savings. With these tips, anyone can save money and those who are serious about their financial future actually will.

Generally speaking, old fashioned coupon clipping probably is not worth the time and energy it takes to organize everything, but things have changed today. The rise of relationship marketing – whereby advertising revenue is spent on developing customer loyalty as opposed to mass advertising – and the Internet have radically changed the picture.

Using simple computer programs, such as Microsoft Excel, has also made organizing your money saving campaign much easier. In fact, many people save thousands of dollars a year by taking full advantage of the offers made by manufacturers and retailers combined.

Basic coupons

Basic coupons are offered by either the manufacturer or retailer of a given product to provide an incentive to buy that product. Usually a coupon either takes a certain amount off the retail price at the point of purchase or allows you to get a second item for free or at half the price.

There are other types of coupons, but these are the most popular and common. Coupons regularly arrive in the mail, are frequently found in newspapers and magazines, or come with the purchase of a product. Today many coupons can also be found online and printed off for use at your local retail store as well.

Manufacturer’s rebates

Many rebates also work like coupons, though you may have to mail in the rebate certificate to the manufacturer for redemption. Other rebates can be claimed at the point of purchase. It really depends on the rebate itself as well as the store’s policies.

The basic idea is part of the relationship marketing efforts of the company producing the product; instead of spending the rebate dollars on mass advertising, they give these dollars to people who have already purchased their product as an incentive to buy it again. The technique does work for the manufacturers, but it can also help the savvy strategic shopper as well.

Store Incentives

It is not just manufacturers that have adopted relationship marketing, retailers have as well. Many major retail chains have incentive programs based on some sort of points system that can then be redeemed for cash or other awards.

Again, the idea is to spend advertising and promotional revenue to encourage existing customers to come back as opposed to trying to attract new customers through mass advertising. Joining these incentive programs and being sure to get credit for all of your purchases is an integral part of the strategic shopping program.

Store sales

Putting selected items on sale has always been a popular and effective means of getting people to visit a store and to purchase products that the store wants or needs to move. Even people who do not bother with strategic shopping ideas will frequently respond to a good sale.

Now that most retail outlets use UPC codes for pricing, including sale prices, the old clause of being unable to use a coupon on a sale item has largely faded away. This means a strategic shopper with a coupon can apply it to an item that is also on sale. This same item may also include a rebate or additional incentive.

Strategic shopping

Although the savings from each shopping trip may only amount to a few dollars, when all of the incentives are combined together and viewed over a reasonable period of time, the savings can be astounding. Some of the more aggressive strategic shoppers save as much as $5,000 or more each year. Further, many people have caught on to the idea, so there are many web sites and online discussion forums that provide useful tips and advice for successful strategic shopping.