Cash-conscious Canadians grabbing many gift cards: Wal-Mart Canada

WalMart Canada has witnessed continued growth in the popularity of its gift
cards this holiday season, a trend the company attributes to economic uncertainty, the growing creativity of the category, and the virtual guarantee of customers finding what they want at
WalMart.
Both customer sales and selection of gift cards have grown at
WalMart Canada this year.
Sales of gift cards have seen recent double-digit growth over last year,
making them one of WalMart Canada's most-improved gift items this year. Based
on past years, WalMart anticipates that the majority of holiday gift cards
will be spent within 10 days of Christmas, and almost all by the end of
January.
With tens of thousands of items in each store, WalMart offers a huge
range of selection for gift card purchases. Past sales data indicates that
post-holiday gift card use at WalMart generally focuses first on electronics
like ipods and video games, followed closely by food products like Kraft
Dinner.
The company has added 17 new varieties of card designs and now offers
more than 50 different styles, including holograms, hockey cards, and a
scratch n' sniff gingerbread house. Currently, Canadian sales data shows a
kitten in a gift box edging out Santa as the favorite gift-card image -
though the two are running neck-and-neck.
"In challenging times Canadian shoppers want practical choices like gift
cards," said Trudy Fa hie, Vice President of Financial Services, Wal-Mart
Canada Corp. "Giving a Wal-Mart gift card is like giving the gift of great
prices and choice. In this economy, and particularly at Christmas, people are
balancing between items they need and items they want - and a Wal-Mart gift
card offers the choice of thousands of products from fashion to toys,
electronics to household necessities, food to decor."
For those choosing to redeem gift cards quickly, WalMart Canada has
lowered thousands of prices in the lead-up to Christmas and plans to offer
Boxing Week promotions that will make customers' dollars - or gift cards - go
further.
"Customers see WalMart gift cards as a safe harbor," said Fa hie. "They
know we've got something for everyone, and they can rest assured that even in
these tough times our stores will be there when customers want to cash in."

WalMart Canada operates 310 stores nationwide and serves more than one
million Canadians daily. With 77,000 associates, it is one of the nation's
largest employers.


For further information: Felicia Fefer, Corporate Affairs, Wal-Mart
Canada, (905) 821-2111 x. 4466