Canadians viewed Walmart as No. 1 retailer for saving money on Valentine's Day, finds company-commissioned survey

Cindy Allen

February 18, 2013 (press release) – Walmart Canada today unveiled the results of a nationwide Valentine's Day shopping survey conducted for the retailer by Research Management Group. The survey probes buying trends and shopping preferences across Canada for Valentine's Day**. According to this year's survey, Canadians see Walmart as the number one retailer for saving money this Valentine's Day.

"In confectionary alone, Walmart has an average price gap of more than 15 per cent versus conventional grocers," said Lori Vaughn , vice president of pricing for Walmart Canada. "With an average total Valentine's Day spend of $173, savings like that can really help."

Survey Highlights

94 per cent of those polled planned to shop for Valentine's Day
As of Friday February 8, 60 per cent of those planning on shopping for Valentine's Day had not started, and only 15 per cent had completed their shopping
Survey shows customers consider Walmart Canada the number 1 retailer for Valentine's Day savings
Average Valentine's Day budget is $173, $10 dollars more than for the Super Bowl
Candy, cards and clothes are top 3 Valentine's Day gifts

"We're all set to help customers find the perfect gift for their Valentine," said Oliver Horton , senior vice president for food and consumables. "With competitive pricing across the top Valentine's Day items, ranging from candy, flowers, jewellery, and even video games, Walmart Canada is Canada's Valentine's Day one-stop-shop for the whole family.

Top Valentine's Purchases

#1 Candy/sweets 54%
#2 Greeting cards 41%
#3 Apparel 28%
#4 Flowers 24%
#5 Alcohol 18%
#6 Toys 17%
#7 Gift cards 15%
#8 Jewellery 12%
#9 Cosmetics 7%
#10 DVDs, video games 6%


*About Price Gap

To ensure Walmart Canada is saving its customers money and providing low prices on a basket of merchandise, the retailer checks and compares 140,000 prices at hundreds of stores under multiple banners across the country on a weekly basis.

**Valentine's Day Trend Survey

Conducted by Research Management Group for Walmart Canada, the online survey of 787 shoppers has a margin of error is 3.5 per cent. Respondents were recruited from the AskingCanadians national panel to quotas representing primary household shoppers by region, gender and age to reflect the national profile. Note that like the primary household shopper profile the sample is 70 per cent female and 30 per cent male. Fieldwork timing was from January 14 and February 8.

About Walmart Canada

Walmart Canada operates a growing chain of more than 375 locations nationwide serving more than one million customers each day, as well as its flagship online store, www.walmart.ca, which is visited by over 250,000 Canadians daily. With over 94,000 associates, Walmart Canada is one of Canada's largest employers and is recognized by Waterstone Human Capital as having one of Canada's top 10 corporate cultures. Walmart Canada is focused on helping Canadian families in need. Since 1994, Walmart has donated and raised more than $160 million to Canadian charities and not-for-profit organizations. Additional company information can be found at walmartcanada.ca, facebook.com/walmartcanada and at twitter.com/@walmartcanada.





SOURCE Walmart Canada

PR Newswire (http://s.tt/1zMcR)

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