Retailers Using Gift Card Giveaways to Put Consumers in Shopping Mood

Ads and offers for Black Friday and other promotions are heating up, we found in a scan of retailer and deal websites Monday. Retailers are stepping up timed gift card giveaways in exchange for minimum purchase levels, hoping to put consumers in the shopping spirit early.

Barnes & Noble said Monday customers who spend $75 or more for Barnes & Noble gift cards will receive a free $10 gift card. The deal, which began Monday, is good through Dec. 2, and the $10 giveaway card is redeemable beginning Dec. 26. Shoppers who buy their cards in a store will receive their free gift card at the time of purchase, and those who purchase online will receive their free card via email on Dec. 26, the company said.

With the Xbox One on the way, Best Buy is offering a $50 gift card along with $50 savings and free shipping this week to consumers who buy the Xbox 360 250 GB console ($249) or a 4 GB console with Kinect ($249), said the website. Another offer promises a $30 gift card and $20 savings for the purchase of a 4 GB console without Kinect ($179).

Toys “R” Us is hoping to squeeze more shopping out of loyalty program customers via various promotions. Those who sign up for a special email offer have access to select Black Friday deals beginning the day before Thanksgiving. In addition to accumulating points for purchases, loyalty members will have access to exclusive offers but can obtain direct access to exclusive offers in all “R” Us stores -- giving them a private jump-start to the holiday season, the retailer said.

Customers with Rewards “R” Us and “R” Us credit cards will be eligible to earn double reward points every Wednesday from Nov. 6 to Dec. 25 on all in-store and online purchases at Toys “R” Us and Babies “R” Us, the retailer said. Rewards “R” Us members will receive four points per dollar spent on the designated Wednesdays, and those using their “R” Us credit card will receive double that per dollar spent, it said. Five hundred points equals $5 in reward dollars at Toys “R” Us.

Toys “R” Us will open its doors at 5 p.m. on Thanksgiving, according to deals company BFAds.net, which posted the Toys “R” Us Black Friday ad Monday. In addition to offering more than 300 doorbuster sale items at prices good through Saturday that week, Toys “R” Us will also have a four-hour deal 5-9 p.m. on Thanksgiving, or while supplies last, according to an ad scan. Among the more than 300 doorbuster sale-priced CE items are a 7-inch Polaroid Android 4.1 tablet, slashed by $80 to $49.99; a Toshiba Symbio 3D Blu-ray player, discounted by $40 to $59.99; three Vivitar camcorders, marked down to $19.99 and $39.99 after $20 discounts; a SanDisk 16 GB thumb drive and SD card, chopped by $20 to $4.99 each; HMDX portable Bluetooth speakers halved to $19.99; an Audiovox 7-inch portable DVD player at $49.99, down from $89.99; Skullcandy Jib earphones, clipped to $4.99 from $7.99; an iLuv soundbar, dropped 50 percent to $34.99; an Acer 10.1-inch laptop trimmed by $50 to $279; and a Riptunes 4 GB MP3 player, cut by $5 to $14.99.

Walmart began “helping customers get ahead of their holiday shopping” Friday by launching an early cyber event on “select items typically reserved for Black Friday and Cyber Monday.” The retailer is matching local competitors’ advertised prices through Dec. 24, according to Walmart.com, but the offer excludes Thanksgiving and Black Friday deals, as well as promotions involving gift cards, percentage off and wireless products requiring a contract. Walmart encouraged customers to “be the first” to find out about deals throughout the holiday season by signing up for emails, liking Walmart’s Facebook page or downloading the Walmart app.

In other promotions, h.h. gregg sent an email blast Monday on Ultra HD TVs, offering the 65-inch Sony XBR65X900A for $5,498. But the price was in line with price cuts Sony instituted in August for first-gen 4K TVs (CED Aug 13 p1). The h.h. gregg price was $1 under the price at Sony’s own online store and at Crutchfield, and it matched the price on Amazon, B&H Photo and Sears. Best Buy was selling it for $5,499.98.

Amazon picked up on the Federal Aviation Administration’s decision to allow travelers to use tablets, e-readers and other non-connected portable electronic devices (CED Nov 1 p4) during all phases of commercial flights to promote its Kindle readers. Consumers who entered the code “ThnksFAA” at checkout could get a Kindle for $59 ($10 off), a Kindle Fire HD for $118 ($21 off) and a Kindle Fire HDX for $195 ($34 off). The deal was good Monday only, Amazon said.