Walmart Offers Its Lowest Prices of the Season During the "BIG Christmas Event" on Dec. 17

BENTONVILLE, Ark., Dec. 14, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Christmas is almost here! Are you ready? According to the National Retail Federation, as of the second week in December, the average person has completed only 46.5 percent of their shopping(1). That's why Walmart is holding the "BIG Christmas Event" geared specifically to the millions of last-minute shoppers.

Starting at 8 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 17, Walmart's "BIG Christmas Event" will offer its lowest prices of the season on toys, games, electronics, bikes and more. In addition, Walmart.com is giving customers an extra day to shop by extending its shipping deadlines. Walmart's holiday shipping options not only ensure gifts arrive in time for Christmas, but have also saved customers approximately $36 million in shipping(2) fees.

"Our customers are telling us there's still a lot of shopping to do before Christmas," said Duncan MacNaughton, chief merchandising officer for Walmart U.S. "Moms are feeling stressed to 'get it right' and not forget anything, so we're excited to give them another great day of savings to help them purchase gifts, stocking stuffers and the holiday meal at our lowest prices of the season."

Incredible Savings on Electronics and Games(3):

• Vizio® 32" Class 1080p LED/LCD HDTV (31.5" diagonal screen) – $298
• Vizio® 3D Blu-ray™ Player with Built-in WiFi – $98
• Select Games for Xbox 360®, Nintendo® Wii™, and PS3® Games – $39.96 each

Best Gifts for Kids(3):

• Girls' or boys' 24" Power Climber Bike, Mongoose® 20" FSG or Outer Limit Bike $88 each
• FurReal® Friends Cookie My Playful Pup™ – $29

Gifts and Toys for $10 and under(3):

• Barbie® Swim & Dance™ Doll or Strollin' Pups™ Doll – $10 each
• Air Hogs® Moto Frenzy or Beyblade™ Metal Masters™ Burning Fire Strike 2-pack – $10 each
• Axe® Excite Gift Set – $10
• Nobo™ Cozy Socks – $2.97

Top Toys for $20 and under(3):

• Nerf® Dart Tag™ Swarmfire Blaster or Hot Wheels® Sky Jump Track™ Set – $20 each
• Happy Nappers™ The Perfect Play Pillow™ – $14.88

"No matter how late in the game you start your holiday shopping, we guarantee the best price," said MacNaughton. "In addition to offering our lowest prices, if customers find a lower price in a local competitor's ad for the same product – even after the purchase – Walmart will refund the difference with a Walmart gift card – that is our Christmas Price Guarantee."

Extended Standard Shipping Deadline plus Free Shipping on Hundreds of Thousands of Items

Customers can now order products online until 11:30 p.m. PT on Dec. 20 and receive standard shipping to home with delivery in time for Christmas. Rush shipping to home is also available until 11:30 p.m. PT on Dec. 21.

Customers have even more ways to save on free shipping to home and stores through the following programs:

• Home Free (now through 12/20 11:30 p.m. PT) – order online and receive free shipping to home on all purchases of $45 or more on Microsoft Xbox consoles, games and accessories, electronics, apparel, consumables and other seasonal items.
• Site to Store (now through 12/20 11:30 p.m. PT) – order online and receive free shipping to a Walmart store
• FedEx Site to Store (now through 12/20 11:30 p.m. PT) – order online and receive free shipping to participating FedEx Office locations.  This service in now available in more than 650 FedEx Office locations in NYC, Los Angeles, Washington DC, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, Portland, Seattle, Minneapolis, Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Denver, Miami, Cincinnati and Columbus.
• Pick Up Today (now through Dec. 23 11:30 p.m. PT) – order store items online for same day pick up at a Walmart store. 

More information is available at www.walmart.com/holidayshipping

There's Still Plenty of Time to Shop and Save! Most Walmart stores are open 24 hours and many of those that do not offer 24-hour service will have extended shopping hours for the holiday season.

Holiday hours and shipping options include:

• All locations close at 6 p.m. on Dec. 24 (Christmas Eve)
• All locations are closed on Dec. 25 (Christmas Day), with 24-hour locations reopening on Dec. 26 at 6 a.m. and other locations reopening at regularly scheduled times

(1) The National Retail Federation's 2011 Holiday Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey was designed to gauge consumer behavior and shopping trends related to the winter holidays. The survey polled 8,402 consumers and was conducted for NRF by BIGresearch, November 30 – December 7, 2011. The consumer poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.0 percent.

(2) Walmart internal data measuring the total amount customers have saved using Home Free, Site to Store, FedEx Site to Store and/or Pick Up Today programs over the holidays

(3) Supplies are limited, Prices may vary in Alaska, Hawaii, Oklahoma and Wisconsin

About Walmart
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) serves customers and members more than 200 million times per week at over 9,700 retail units under 69 different banners in 28 countries. With fiscal year 2011 sales of $419 billion, Walmart employs 2.1 million associates worldwide. Walmart continues to be a leader in sustainability, corporate philanthropy and employment opportunity. Additional information about Walmart can be found by visiting http://walmartstores.com, and on Facebook at http://facebook.com/walmart and on Twitter at http://twitter.com/walmart. Online merchandise sales are available at http://www.walmart.com and http://www.samsclub.com.

SOURCE Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.