Walmart stores get ready for biggest shopping days of the year

Walmart stores across the country are busy this week setting the stage for the biggest shopping days of the year and it’s all hands on deck, according to Stephen Carter, a Walmart corporate spokesman. He said this year Walmart is using technology to help direct shoppers to specific areas around the store where the Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday promotions will be featured.

The detailed store maps are available on the Walmart mobile app and so is the Black Friday Ad. Carter said there are plenty of great deals to lure shoppers into stores, but those who want first dibs can begin ordering online Wednesday (Nov. 27) at 9 p.m. CST for the Thanksgiving and Black Friday promotions that won’t be offered in-store until 6 p.m Thanksgiving Day, nearly 24 hours later.

Carter said shoppers who order online can pick up in-store by 6 p.m on Black Friday (Nov. 29) or in some cases take advantage of two-day shipping. He said those shoppers who do attend the in-store events on Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday can easily be directed via the in-store maps to within four feet of the promotional items.

Supercenters will also have additional check-out-with-me cashiers stationed around the store to help facilitate the checkout process. Carter said Walmart has bought deep on popular items and consumers can find discounts on Apple AirPods at a promotional price of $129 and a $50 savings on the Sony Playstation 4 bundle with “The Last of Us” and “God of War” priced at $199.

As expected, there will be plenty of deals on large-screen smart televisions that start at $98 or a 65” for $278. There is a Samsung Chromebook 3 retailing for $99 and the Apple Watch Series 3 at a $30 discount at $129 or an iPad 7th generation 10.2″ 32G for $249, a savings of $80.

For the kitchen, there is Instant Pot, the 6-in-1 cooker retailing for $49, with a savings of $30. Walmart also has several specialty items in the Pioneer Woman line, including three items priced at $20 each. They include a 20-piece kitchen utensil and gadget set, cutlery set and crockpot. Another hot item on the sales list is an All-Star hoverboard priced at $89, down from $148 regularly.

Carter said the digital toy catalog unveiled this year for parents and grandparents is designed to help make shopping easier. Last week, Walmart featured a new service on its mobile app that allows shoppers to scan and shop hundreds of toys, including more than 150 exclusives, on their mobile phones.

The “Scan & Shop powered by Digimarc” technology is featured in 35 million catalogs that are being distributed in Walmart’s approximately 4,800 U.S. stores and mailed directly to shoppers and third-party toy resellers.

With fewer days between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year, Walmart has taken additional steps to get shoppers in gear for the season, starting with an “Early Deals Drop” that began Oct. 25, followed by the release of the toy catalog on Nov. 1 and sneak peeks at Black Friday deals.

By making its print catalog more transactional with pages that can be scanned via a mobile app, Walmart aims to ease the friction of online checkout while keeping shoppers within its own app. Shoppers can also access the toy catalog online at Walmart.com. By scanning the bar codes into the phone, the items are added to the shopping list or cart for easy purchase.

While Walmart Supercenters are getting set for shopping extravaganzas later this week, the retail giant said online grocery pickup will be suspended on Nov. 27 and 28 so that all workers can be utilized to streamline the in-store traffic. Carter said online grocery pickup will be available on those days in Neighborhood Market locations.