With six decades under its belt, Walmart has learned what shoppers want, and it hasn't been afraid to adjust its operations over the years. As a result, customers have experienced plenty of change. In 2022 alone, Walmart shoppers in different parts of the U.S. have seen major store redesigns, new augmented reality features on its app, and even the launch of a book club. Now, the company has announced another upgrade for the holidays. Read on to find out what Walmart will let shoppers do at checkout, starting Friday.
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Walmart is expecting a massive influx of shoppers over the holidays.
ShutterstockGlobally, Walmart sees an average of 230 million shoppers enter its stores every week, according to Statista. And although inflation has rocked everyone this year, customers are still planning to flock to this big-box retailer in the coming weeks. A recent GOBankingRates survey found that 25 percent of people in the U.S. said they prefer to do their holiday shopping at Walmart, while only 9 percent picked Target as their preferred holiday retailer in comparison.
The mega-retailer also just reported stronger-than-expected financial results during its fall quarter. Walmart's comparable sales in the U.S. increased by 8.2 percent through Oct. 28 from the year prior, and shopper visits to its stores climbed by 2.1 percent in the third quarter, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Walmart Chief Financial Officer John David Rainey told CNBC on Nov. 15 that while the retailer will continue to watch sales closely through the holidays, they are already "off to a pretty solid start."
If you're heading to Walmart to do some Christmas shopping, be prepared for something new at checkout.
You'll be able to pay it forward with your purchases.
ShutterstockAs the holidays roll in, Walmart has announced an important rollout for shoppers.
In a Nov. 21 press release, the retailer revealed that it is launching a new giving campaign as part of its Spark Good initiative. Walmart initially unveiled Spark Good in Sept. 2022. It's described as a "digital giving platform that makes it easier for associates and customers to support causes they care about, and for nonprofits to access Walmart’s customers, associates, and business and philanthropic resources."
According to the press release, Walmart will allow customers to give to nonprofits at checkouts starting Nov. 25. From this day until Christmas, "the retailer is giving customers the opportunity to round up purchases, then donate the change" when shopping online or in stores, Walmart explained.
You can donate to the charity of your choice.
iStockWalmart is giving you even more control this time around. During the retailer's holiday giving campaign, you can donate to a "favorite charity" by choosing where your money is sent.
"Participating is easy," Walmart said. "After a customer checks out while shopping online or in the app, they will be prompted to search for a favorite charity for their round up donations."
You can go to Walmart's Spark Good website to search through nonprofits for the Round Up campaign as well. But if the charity you want to donate to isn't listed, don't worry: "If a customer can’t find the local cause they want to support, they can send a referral link directly to the 501(c)(3) of their choice," Walmart said in its announcement.
Walmart is planning to match donations.
ShutterstockOf course, it's not only your money going to these nonprofits. Walmart said that it will "match customers contributions 1:1, up to $1 million." So combined with what customers give, the retailer's program could send various charities $2 million in total through donations alone.
And Walmart isn't stopping there. The company is also awarding charities that reach a certain threshold of contributions through its program in order to "incentivize customers and nonprofits to take part in the campaign." Walmart will give up to 3,000 nonprofits each a $1,000 grant if they receive 20 or more Spark Good Round Up donations from shoppers.
"Last year, Walmart and the Walmart Foundation gave more than $1.5 billion in cash and in-kind donations to organizations around the world," Erin Hogue, a senior director of associate and customer engagement at Walmart, said in a statement. "Giving is in our DNA and it’s clear our customers feel the same. With this $5 million campaign, we’re not only amplifying our customers’ acts of giving through matching donations and grants, we’re also allowing our customers to tell us where they’d like the dollars to go."
