Posted on 09/17/2009 5:36:31 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
While pleased with signs of increased traffic throughout the Wal-Mart Stores empire, the company's president and CEO says Americans are under more financial pressure than many retailers realize.
While Wal-Mart sales have long been more influenced by paycheck cycles than other stores, slowing at the end of the month and picking up after the first, "that's been more exaggerated and pronounced in recent months," says Mike Duke, addressing the Goldman Sachs Sixteenth Annual Global Retail Conference in New York on Thursday.
"Most of our stores are open 24 hours, and we've seen an increase in sales just after midnight on the first of the month. And sales of the most basic items, even infant formula, spike on the first and second day of the month. Our customers have been under a real strain, and [are] having to manage very, very carefully."
And while the stresses are greatest on lower-income shoppers, he says in remarks that were also Webcast that this intensification of thriftiness extends to most shoppers, and are more far-reaching than many experts believe.
"This new focus on frugality, and especially on the deferral of purchases for things that aren't needed right now, are the new normal. People are putting a tremendous emphasis on shopping smarter -- I'm amazed at how many more people know the price of what they buy, right down to the penny," he says. "I don't believe this will change as the economy gets better. The deferral of purchases will be with us for a long, long time."
Duke was bullish on the company's performance, particularly in its international divisions, and says that Mexico's same-store sales jumped 6.3% in August, despite that country's economic woes, and that Japan and the U.K. are also performing well.
"I don't spend a lot of time trying to be an economist," Duke says, when asked to predict when consumers might feel more relaxed about discretionary spending. But for the rapidly approaching holiday season, he says Wal-Mart expects that this will be "a late Christmas."
"There will be deferred spending. The customer will use every bit of intelligence, comparison shop, do lots of research on the Internet. At Walmart, we're well-positioned to meet the needs of that customer focus."
They are correct. I am deferring purchases so I can buy more ammo.
The Democrat answer is to raise the prices at Walmart by unionizing it, raise prices by slapping Cap and Trade on the country, raise prices by forcing Obamacare on everyone.
I think some are deferring purchases to save money for taxes which most believe are on their way up. If nothing else, the anticipated inflation is going to drive people into higher tax brackets in a time-frame of high unemployment when wage and salary increases are unlikely to keep up.
Not me...I have to buy now to “save-up” for the shipping costs.....staggering! Always more than the small gifts sent.
No wonder the gift cards have become so very big an item. It sure takes away from the thoughtful planning, however.
LOL at the entire process!
On the other hand, buying Chinese products helps Walmart but doesn’t create American jobs. Jobs that are needed to bring back the economy. Doesn’t sound good at all.
Sign up for Amazon Prime.
For 80 bucks or so you get free shipping on everything for a year.
Your whole family can use one Prime membership, enter their own credit cards and shipping addresses.
Both my adult daughters get their baby diapers, claim it is the cheapest deal going.
We buy tons of stuff this way, and no sales tax.
Most stuff arrives the next day.
We do accumulate a lot of cardboard from all the boxes.
They could solve part of the problem by reinstating lay away shopping.
So take the chains off the American economy. Get rid of the green crazies who make it very expensive or impossible to build a nuke plant, to drill for oil, to mine coal. Don’t punish Americans more by slapping on tariffs until that and more is done.
Right now I would rather buy from China than Obama’s SA unions. Communist Chinese are less of a threat.
Individuals and companies are deferring purchases becuase they know taxes are going to go up. Most of us with a memory remember that every time the dimrats run the show, we get hit with higher taxes and reductions in freedoms. The dims are good at one thing and that is slowing down our economy. Sad thing is that the people who vote dim get hammered just as hard as the rest of us.
Yep, that would be me.
uhh....so, like....if you don’t have enough money to buy something, you hold off buying it, and don’t buy it until you do....what a concept!
</sarcasm>
Wal-Mart admits former financial, marketing models based on "instant gratification" and "useless crap"
Every dollar you spend helps the Obama administration... so keep it out of circulation and screw the DC parasites.
No sales tax? Watch out....in Wisconsin you are supposed to report that on your income tax return. They have ways of finding you if you don’t.
Exporting jobs is punishment enough. Free trade might work if it is ever tried but I’m gusessing it will only work between countries whose culture and laws (regs) are the same. China certainly doesn’t believe in free trade does it?
LOL! Your favorite form of commerce. ;)
People without jobs can’t buy as much stuff. Perhaps we should bring a few of those jobs back from China.
“Every dollar you spend helps the Obama administration... so keep it out of circulation and screw the DC parasites.”
*APPLAUSE* :)
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