Wal-Mart Set To Expand $10 Holiday Toy Deal in 2009

October 14th, 2009 • Related • Filed Under • by tisha

With never-ending talk about the recession and budgeting concerns of families everywhere, this year’s holiday holiday-shopping-cart shopping season has shoppers concerned if there will even be a Christmas for their families come December. While many shoppers are taking an early lead to find the deals on gift items for this Christmas, many more are still prevented from shopping due to budgetary constraints and an overall lack of funds. However, there are some retailers that are sympathetic to the plight of working families and many, including Wal-Mart, already have plans in the works to help out early.

Last year, Wal-Mart help bring in early holiday shoppers by lowering the prices on 10 of the most popular toys to just $10. It worked. This year, Wal-Mart not only plans to continue with the already-popular program but make it even bigger. The retail giant will still offer the popular toys at $10 but will also expand to 100 toys to choose from this holiday season. During last season’s program, Wal-Mart literally sold out of the $10 toys, mostly due to their own underestimation.

Wal-Mart states they understand that “price matters more than ever”. They keep in mind single and working families that simply do not have the money this year to make ends meet, much less splurge during Christmas shopping. The retailer will continue selling family-friendly board games, such as Monopoly and Connect 4, at $10 prices. Barbies, which were included in last year’s program, will once again be a part of the deal. Other items such as Play-Doh sets and popular action figures will be marked down as much as 20-50%.

At the end of this year’s holiday shopping season, US retailers will expect to account for 25-40% of their total annual revenue. Fear is big because 2008 was the worst in almost 40 years and early predictions are not certain if this year’s end will be any better or if they will be worse.

Wal-Mart executives pinpoint about 70% of holiday shopping occurs before Halloween. Last year, the retailer worked with a number of toy manufacturers to come up with the list of 10. This year, they hope the additional 90 toy items will help families to survive the holidays on a budget with a much bigger selection. Wal-Mart has also stated that the $10 toy program is just the first of several programs that will be launched in the weeks leading up to Christmas. Newer programs will be announced and are expected to provide shoppers with even more savings.