BENTONVILLE, Ark., Dec. 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- A recent survey(1) revealed that only eight percent of male shoppers start their Christmas shopping before Thanksgiving, while nearly one-fifth (18 percent) of the male respondents admit to procrastinating until the last minute. Wal-Mart hopes to take the stress and guesswork out of last minute Christmas shopping for guys this year with the launch of a new Web tool, Helpaguybuy.com (available at http://www.helpaguybuy.com/). For men who are weary of perusing endless aisles of merchandise and are wrestling with the anxiety of finding a gift right for their special someone, help is now just a click away.
"It's no secret that some men have long been associated with delaying holiday shopping and many aren't confident when it comes to gift selection," said Nick Agarwal, Wal-Mart's vice president in corporate communications. "With our 'Help A Guy Buy' initiative, we hope to eliminate the stress they feel by offering a site that makes finding the perfect gifts fast, easy and accurate. And with Wal-Mart's great values throughout the holiday season, the more money a guy can save, the more Christmas he can give."
Wal-Mart's Helpaguybuy.com narrows the search for gifts by taking visitors through a series of 10 short questions that lead to unique personality profiles. Gifts suggestions are offered for each of eight profiles, including:
-- women on the go
-- the ultimate hostess
-- sports enthusiasts
-- nature lovers
-- fashion fanatics
"We are always looking for opportunities to help our customers live better," added Agarwal. "By helping a guy buy, we are taking the convenience we provide a step further by giving men -- and ultimately the women -- a happier Christmas."
The gift suggestions are available for purchase in Wal-Mart stores and online at Walmart.com, which also offers 97-cent shipping on select items. To ensure gifts arrive in time for Christmas, customers are encouraged to order online before 11:30pm PT on the dates listed below:
-- Tuesday, Dec 18: Standard shipping and 97-cent shipping
-- Wednesday, Dec 19: 2- to 3- Day Shipping
-- Thursday, Dec 20: 1-Day Shipping
For those uber-procrastinators, online gift cards can be purchased from Walmart.com and delivered via e-mail within hours, even on Christmas morning in time to be opened with the rest of the presents under the tree.
About Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
Every week, more than 127 million customers visit Wal-Mart Stores, Supercenters, Neighborhood Markets, and Sam's Club locations across America or log on to its online store at http://www.walmart.com. The company and its Foundation are committed to a philosophy of giving back locally. Wal-Mart is proud to support the causes that are important to customers and associates right in their own neighborhoods, and last year gave more than $270 million to local communities in the United States. To learn more, visit http://www.walmartfacts.com/, http://www.walmartstores.com/, or http://www.walmartfoundation.org/.
1. Wal-Mart's study was conducted by StrategyOne, an independent research company, between November 1 and November 4, 2007. A total of 1000 surveys were completed via telephone among American adult consumers 18 years or older.
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