The American retail chain, Walmart, offers many advantages to its customers, especially in terms of discounts and never-ending availability of products. In addition, it is present in practically the entire territory. According to a 2022 analysis, as of October 2022 there were 4,662 locations in 2,546 cities in the United States. Texas is the state with the most Walmart stores, with a total of 516, being 11.1% of the total.
Although Walmart is one of the largest chains, it is below others in the number of stores, such as Family Dollar, which has 8,225 (3,563 more) or Dollar Tree, which today has 7,884 supermarkets (3,222 more). Walmart’s revenue for the twelve months ending July 31, 2022, was $587.824B, a 3.83% increase year-over-year. Walmart annual revenue for 2022 was $572.754B, a 2.43% increase from 2021. On the other hand, it is significantly larger than other retail chains, such as Trader Joe’s, which has 530 locations.
Using your reward points at Walmart
Faced with this competitive and aggressive but successful sales scenario, Walmart is always looking for new strategies to retain its customers and attract new ones. Here is where the new alliance with the fintech firm FIS comes into play, which joins in with the chain to affiliate it to its Premium Payback rewards program. Basically, customers who are beneficiaries of this system, will be able to use the reward points in their credit cards to get a discount when paying the final bill.
Jacksonville, Florida-based FIS has not yet specified when Walmart shoppers can start using the rewards program or which credit cards will be eligible. It is expected to be announced in the coming weeks or at the beginning of 2023.
“Our partnership with FIS makes paying with points as simple as a notice at the point of sale,” said Mike Cook, Walmart senior vice president and assistant treasurer. The service will be available in all Walmart stores in the United States, so it does not apply to those that are in other countries.
Thousands of financial institutions, representing more than 7,000 card rewards programs, are enrolled in the Premium Payback program, FIS said. That makes its rewards program available to more than 45 million cardholders.
What are reward programs
A reward point is a sort of pay back offered by banks to cardholders as a reward for every time they use their cards when purchasing services and products. You can collect and use these points for what your card company offers you. There’s almost always a minimum to collect before you can use them, and they expire within a certain amount of time.
There are three basic types of credit card rewards:
Cash back: this kind of rewards return to the costumer a certain percentage of what the shop monthly. For example, there’s a cash back program by Citi, called Double Cash Card, that provides 2% cash back in total: 1% on all purchases and an additional 1% after you pay your credit card bill.
However, some cash-back cards actually accrue points that can be converted into actual dollars. You have to check what are the terms of your current card.
Points: although the cash back system is the most straightforward since you receive a percentage of your spending back, points a still a great deal. Most of the reward points programs offer the 1:1 value, which means you get a penny (1¢). So, typically, 2,500 points (or miles, if it’s your case) will convert into $25.
Miles: Most co-branded airline cards offer miles as part of their fidelity membership programs. You can ask for reward miles cards in airlines such as American, Delta, United, Southwest, and many more. Every mile’s program is different, so you better ask your preferred airline or bank which one they offer.
Other ways to fight with inflation
Walmart announced in early November that it will offer discounted assorted food items to help its customers deal with inflation that reached historic levels in the last year. Food products have risen almost 13% between October 2021 and October 2022, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Walmart said that by offering discounted Thanksgiving staples, and that is working to “eliminate inflation” during the holiday season.
For customers who buy early, whole turkeys will be at an incredible price that is around $1 per pound. The average price in recent days, nationwide, is from $1.30 to $1.47, according to data from the US Department of Agriculture. This is 28% more compared to the same period last year.