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Walmart revamps layaway to please customers

September 5, 2012

Walmart announced yesterday a consumer-driven change to its holiday layaway policy, extending the program and cutting fees.

The new policy adds an extra 30 days to the layaway availability, going from 60 days to 90 days. The open layaway fee will be cut from $15 to $5 and although shoppers will still have to pay 10 percent down for the reserved merchandise, they no longer will be charged a cancellation fee and will receive a $5 gift card upon completing their purchase.

"When our customers speak up, we listen. Last year, they told us they wanted a holiday layaway program. We brought it back, and it was a success," said Duncan MacNaughton, chief merchandising and marketing officer of Walmart U.S., in the announcement. "This year, they told us they wanted more categories, more time and a different fee structure. And we responded again. We believe this rollback strengthens our layaway offering. It's even more attractive to our customers and makes Walmart more competitive in the marketplace."

The layaway program will be available from Sept. 16 through Dec. 14, allowing shoppers who like the retailer on Facebook to get in on the holiday shopping two days early, on Sept. 14.

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