Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE:WMT) to start off holiday season on Thanksgiving day

The holiday season has begun and Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.(NYSE:WMT) is ready to kick off the season on Thanksgiving Day at 8 p.m. guaranteeing a trio of gadgets of those who queue up early.

The economic recession and high unemployment figures have taken a toll on customer confidence and the immediate casualty of it has been revealed in a dip in retail sales.

However as companies like Apple have seen, there is a rush for quality products, high prices and recession notwithstanding.

For retailers such as WalMart the holiday shopping season is crucial since this is the time that they make the highest sales - more than a quarter of its total annual sales comes during this season.

"We bought deep, very deep, and we bought deep on items that matter to our customers," said Walmart U.S. Chief Merchandising and Marketing Officer Duncan Mac Naughton.

According to the National Retail Federation, holiday spending is seen rising only 4.1 percent this year compared to 5.6 percent last year.

Retailers are trying to come up with innovative ways to lure spending customers to their shops.

This time WalMart started off its pre-holiday preparations earlier in the middle of September compared to other years. Even the holiday season sale, which usually starts a day after Thanksgiving, is being held earlier.

"'We got customer feedback that says 'I like to shop earlier so I can go to bed earlier,'" Mac Naughton said.

Thanksgiving will be observed on November 22 this year.

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