Walmart Brings Back Layaway

In attempt to boost sales, Walmart brings back layaway.

It used to be a staple of the holiday season - layaway. For those who might not remember, basically it was a service where customers could select the items they wanted to buy and have them held by the store with a small down payment. Then, each week, the customer would pay the store until they had purchased the items. People who were on tight budgets found it to be an easy way to shop for the holidays without having to wait until the last minute.

Walmart did away with their layaway program in 2006, thinking that with the increased use of credit cards and gift cards, it wasn't a program that customers needed. Now, with so many people out of work and looking for jobs, their sales are suffering. In an attempt to win back the customers it has lost and boost their holiday sales, they have announced a rebirth of the program.

This year, customers are looking for the best deal possible. It used to be that Walmart was the place for penny pinchers, but times have changed and customers who are looking for a bargain have been jumping ship to shop at discount stores like Family Dollar and Kmart. Added to that, more customers are shopping online than ever before, making it easier for them to comparison shop and buy items from lower cost retailers.

What Walmart is hoping to accomplish is to win back their customer base by offering them the option to pay for their purchases over time, without interest rates or credit cards. It might be just what the mega-retailer needs to stay competitive in today's marketplace.

I'm not sure that it will be enough, however, I'm not predicting Walmart's fall any time soon. Still, their decline in sales is just one facet of a much larger cultural shift. This economic recession has made real and, hopefully, lasting changes in the way that Americans handle their money. These days, we want the best value for our dollar, not just the cheapest deal. Customers are more likely to research purchases and invest in better quality products.

Maybe it's time for Walmart to realize that Americans aren't as interested in buying cheap plastic stuff from China any more.

What do you think about Walmart's layaway? Do you think it will make a difference?