Target, Walmart, Amazon Jostle for Holiday Shoppers With Early Promos
Target previewed deals that will go live beginning Thursday when it marks the early start of the holiday shopping season with its three-day Deal Days (see 2209220013) promotion. Customers can get electronics, video games, toys and household items at up to 50% off, Target said Monday.
In electronics, a 65-inch Westinghouse Roku smart TV will be discounted $350, Target said. The 4K TV was selling at a $200 discount Monday, at $399, when bought online. The Xbox Series S console will be clipped by $50 during Deal Days, with a free, select Xbox controller thrown in, Target said. It referenced savings on products from Apple and Beats but didn’t detail sale items or discount percentages.
Target extended the return window for electronics and entertainment to Jan. 24 for non-Apple and non-phone items bought Thursday through Dec. 25. The refund period will begin Dec. 26. The return period for non-iPhone Apple products bought Thursday-Dec. 25 is 15 days, running Dec. 26-Jan. 9. Mobile phones bought from Thursday to Christmas Day have a 14-day refund period, ending Jan. 8, Target said.
At Walmart, eligible purchases can be returned through Jan. 31, the retailer said. The return policy for Apple AirPods Monday showed the earphones as eligible for the return policy, along with a 55-inch Samsung TV. Both could be returned to a store, the policies said. Most items sold and shipped by Walmart can be returned for free, either to a store or by mail, but items bought in store or picked up or delivered from a store must be returned to a store, Walmart said.
In a Thursday blog post, Jennifer McKeehan, Walmart senior vice president-end-to-end delivery, pushed the retailer’s efforts “to ensure our supply chain is ready this holiday season.” The retailer is working with carriers to ensure strong in-stock levels and offering pickup and delivery options for over 240,000 items, she said. Walmart's Spark Driver platform reaches 84% of U.S. households across 10,000 pickup points, and the company is extending its DroneUp delivery network to 34 sites by year-end “with the potential to reach 4 million U.S. households across six states,” she said.
Walmart is opening its first “next-generation” fulfillment center slated for the next three years in Joliet, Illinois, and it's deploying automated technology in three distribution centers, with three more slated to go live before year-end, McKeehan said.
Amazon joined the early holiday shopping spirit, too, saying last week it will have an "early access" sale Oct. 11-12 for Prime members. Deals will drop throughout the 48-hour event, starting at 3 a.m. EDT Oct. 11. Amazon encouraged Prime customers to set up personalized deal notifications and create shopping lists. It urged non-Prime members to start a 30-day free trial before the event to be able to participate.
Amazon will continue to provide updates on holiday season sales and events, it said, including a top 100 list of some of the season’s most popular products that's set to release Oct. 11. Monday, it showed significant savings on Amazon-branded Echo, Fire, Fire TV, Halo and smart home devices, plus Blink and Ring security products. A 2020 Amazon Fire HD tablet, on sale for $45 Monday, had a 30-day return window.