LITTLE ROCK — Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said Monday it is temporarily expanding its ad-match guarantee for the Christmas shopping season to include covering the price difference if shoppers find certain items priced lower than Wal-Mart in the same market.
If a customer presents a competitor’s printed advertisement with a lower price than what he paid at Wal-Mart for an identical item, the customer will receive the difference on a Wal-Mart gift card. Currently, Wal-Mart matches competitors’ advertised prices at the time of purchase.
The new program is scheduled to be in place Nov. 1 until Christmas. After-sale ad matches will be handled at the stores’ customer service desks.
Duncan Mac Naughton, Wal-Mart’s chief merchandising officer, said the expanded price guarantee is aimed at reducing customers’ stress because they “know they’re going to get the lowest price.”
“Folks can shop when they want to, rather than when we tell them to,” he said on a conference call with reporters Monday. He declined to discuss the financial effects expected from the program, which includes items on layaway.
Although Wal-Mart has an ad-match program in place year-round, Mac Naughton said the company anticipates customers will respond favorably to the new, after-purchase ad match by shopping for other items while in the store.
“We feel really good about how we’re positioned going into the holiday,” he said.
Retailers are anticipating only modest year-over-year sales increases this year, based on forecasts by trade groups and research firms.
Current sales trends, company officials told investors recently, indicate Wal-Mart is likely to report the end to a more than two-year stretch of declining sales in stores open at least a year in its next quarterly earnings report.
Same-store sales are a key measure of success in retailing because they exclude stores opened or closed during the period.
Among Wal-Mart competitors, Target says it reimburses customers who present a competitor’s ad with a lower price on identical merchandise within seven days of the purchase.
Sears says it matches prices and gives customers a 10 percent bonus refund if an ad is presented showing a lower price of identical items in a local store. The ad can be presented at time of purchase or within 14 days.
The same policy is in effect at Kmart, which is part of Sears Holdings Corp.
Wal-Mart shares closed down 14 cents, or less than 1 percent, at $56.78. Shares have traded between $48.31 and $57.90 over the past year.
Business, Pages 21 on 10/25/2011