Walmart.com expects record holiday traffic
Despite the fact that its site went down for a few hours on the Friday after Thanksgiving and early holiday store sales are slow, Walmart.com is still anticipating a strong holiday shopping season.
Overall holiday-related site traffic to Walmart.com is expected to reach about 275 million visitors between Thanksgiving and early January, says Walmart.com CEO Carter Cast.
The retailer, which doesn’t break out specific e-commerce sales, also expects year-over-year holiday web revenue to grow by at least 40%. “The season is off to a strong start,” says Cast. Throughout the holiday season, Walmart.com anticipates a 40% to 60% increase in web site traffic. Walmart.com also expects 25 million visits the last week in November and is on track to meet its goal of 700 million visits this year, the company says.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc., No. 12 in the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide to Retail Web Sites, is incorporating the web more significantly into its multi-channel retail program. On Monday Wal-Mart kicked off a five-day campaign of specials available only at its web site.
Just in time for the holiday shopping season Wal-Mart Stores Inc. also redesigned Walmart.com. The new design features larger images, an expedited check-out and more use of rich media. Overall the redesign takes in changes that incorporate 1,000 categories and more than 2 million pages at Walmart.com, the company says. In addition to larger and more clearly displayed images, Walmart.com has reduced the check-out process to about four clicks, the company says. To attract more shoppers, the newly retooled Walmart.com also features new buyer’s guides provided by CNET and new tools that enable customers to shop by room collection or apparel outfit.
The redesigned web site and online promotions are meant to help draw more traffic from Wal-Mart’s more than 75 million customers with an Internet connection, says Cast. The world’s biggest retail chain’s online shopping base is also about 60% female, he says. “We sell a great deal on the web, but the main purpose of Walmart.com is to support the stores,” says Cast.
Early in the online holiday shopping season, Walmart.com says that its top performing “super online specials” include: the Philips 3MP digital camera for $49; a choice of three PS2 or Xbox video game titles for $25; cashmere scarves for $16.88; early season TV DVD box sets for $15.88; the Barbie pink acoustic guitar for $20; and an Emerson 7” dual-screen portable DVD player for the car for $138.76.
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