Beginning Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, through Sunday, Dec. 13, 2009, this special offer will be available in all Kroger and other grocery stores the company operates under the following names: City [image-nocss] Market, Dillons, Jay C, Food 4 Less, Fred Meyer, Fry's, King Soopers, QFC, Ralphs and Smith's.
Participating retailers include Applebee's, Bass Pro Shops, Bath & Body Works, Best Buy, iTunes, Sears and Spa Finder. Customers can mix and match gift cards from participating retailers to reach the $100 amount and then receive $10 off their total purchase. The maximum savings per household on the special gift card sale is $50. The offer does not include Kroger gift cards.
"If people are stopping by our stores to maybe restock after Thanksgiving, this is a good way to remind them that we can be a one-stop shopping place," spokesperson Meghan Glynn told the Associated Press. The company also operates 768 convenience stores and 818 supermarket fuel centers. The c-stores are not part of this gift card promotion.
Kroger and other grocers are looking for ways to lure some of the many people who are out shopping at malls and big-box stores on a day that is often slow for supermarketsas well as for c-stores. Kroger, Safeway Inc. and other chains have been expanding their gift card offerings and increasingly using them and other nongrocery items for promotions. Giant retail rival Wal-Mart, the nation's leading grocery seller, is a top Black Friday shopping destination. It is offering steep discounts on items from TVs to children's sleepwear.
In addition to loyalty card savings, customers can also receive fuel rewards in participating markets.
Cincinnati-based Kroger, the nation's largest traditional grocery retailer, has 2,470 supermarkets and multi-department stores in 31 states under two-dozen local banner names, as well as the c-store chains and other types of retail outlets.
Private-label store gift cards' popularity is declining, according to a new TowerGroup report. The research and advisory firm said it expects store gift card spending volume to fall by 7%, with a modest increase of 3% in general purpose cards for 2009. The reduction in card spending is reflective of the weakened economy, decreased holiday sales and less confidence in retailer inventories and stability, it said.
TowerGroup, Needham, Mass., said it projects volumes for gift cards will fall slightly in aggregate during 2009, from $91 billion to $87 billion.
Store gift cards fall into three categories: restaurants, retailers and miscellaneous. Consumers are expected to exhibit more practical usage in each category: fast food will perform better than "white-linen" dining; discounters will perform better than high-end specialty stores and niche players like local stores will experience the largest negative impact.
"The attractiveness of captive store gift cards appears to be waning, particularly in an economy in which retail inventories are shrinking and consumption is concentrated on more practical purchases like food, gasoline and heating oil," said Brian Riley, research director, bank cards, at TowerGroup.
He added, "This is a buyer's market in which consumers can expect heavy discounting from retailers; however, since inventories won't be backed up in stock rooms, but will be out on the sales floor until depleted, delayed shopping, the natural arena for gift card spending, can lead to a diminished selection. As a result, unlike other years, store gift cards might be limited to post-holiday leftovers. This year, it might make sense to buy that cashmere sweater early or give a card that does not bind the recipient to a particular store."
Click herefor more details on the TowerGroup report, due out today.
Separately, First Data Corp.'s 2009 U.S. Holiday Gift Card Forecast said, "The current economic downturn and the associated drop in consumer spending continue to pose challenges to merchants' gift card programs. Gift cards remain very popular items; however, most merchants have experienced year-over-year declines in gift card activations through the first nine months of the year."
Atlanta-based First Data pointed to at least three noteworthy positive trends:
1. "All," which includes the complete range of merchant types that offer gift cards, saw gift card sales drop by nearly 20% in March 2009 (versus March 2008) and has seen fairly steady improvement since then.
2. "Specialty retail" (includes merchants selling clothing, electronics, books, sporting goods, hardware, music/video, beauty supplies, home goods and other items) saw sales plummet through first-quarter 2009 (versus first-quarter 2008), experienced a dramatic bounceback in the second quarter, and has since enjoyed continued progress toward reaching sales levels experienced last year.
3. "Casual Dining," which sells a disproportionately high percentage of cards through gift card malls, has held up well in 2009 (versus 2008). As consumers continue to shift their gift card purchasing to gift card malls, merchants with significant footprints in third-party locations benefit from the growing consumer trend.
Click herefor the full First Data report.
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