Walmart Brings Back Action Alley
by Courtney Velasquez
Last year Walmart decided to remove the huge pallets of specially priced merchandise they had displayed in the isles of their stores and in the past year, they have noticed a decline in shopper traffic from the removal. Walmart’s stock fell 13 cents and they attributing this fall to the removal of “Action Alley”.
Walmart recently made the decision to put the specially priced pallets back into some of their US stores in hopes that customers respond to the great deals and sales go up.
Collective Bias sent out a team of shoppers to check out “Action Alley” and give their thoughts on the change.
Kim Janacko from Crafty Mama of Four said, “While I was there this time I noticed they started putting pallets of stuff in the center aisles. I like that they are showcasing great items at great prices…but, it creates a problem with the traffic flow in the aisles. I’d much rather see the items on an end cap and keep the center aisle free.”
On the other hand, Dawn Camp from My Home Sweet Home noticed the large, colorful back to school items and looking at her pictures, I’m noticing the unbelievable prices!
Will this move be what Walmart needs to revive sales? Is Action Alley the answer? We shall have to wait and see.
source: Business Week
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Isn’t that interesting…I never noticed they were gone? Now it makes me wonder if they were gone in my stores…and I didn’t notice or not. I know they were there on my last trip.
I wonder if they are tracking their PR to find out if the buy local movement is affecting their traffic at all?
I noticed they were gone for a long time and hated it, but the truth is I hate them being their on Black Friday. Black Friday (in my opinion) is the worst time to have them because of the crowds. I love them any other time though.It helped that they were in center aisles while school shopping last week…easier to find.
Merchadising is so interesting. I love all the discussions about merchandising. Thanks Collective Bias for the good conversation. I didn’t notice that the ones in my Wal-Mart were gone either, maybe they weren’t. I always love for a good deal to be on display.
I noticed they were gone because it happened when they rearranged the store – including taking the pharmacy of the wall, putting it in the middle with health & beauty alongside. It opened up the front of the store completely.
Taking out Action Alley made the aisles much more open and it was impossible to NOT notice. It was like they had turned it into a freeway so you could move and pass people with more ease. By taking Action Alley out, the store felt a lot more like *ahem* Target.
In my opinion, the Action Alley products weren’t the cause for the increase (or decrease) in sales. It was because the aisles were tight and if someone stopped to look at something on an Action Alley kiosk, then traffic was bottle-necked. As a customer approached that clog, other than waiting it out, deviating INTO the other aisles… aisles that a customer might not otherwise take. As an example, we don’t regularly go through the appliances but if there was a traffic jam, we would. It’s only natural to look at the items as you pass them by… “I didn’t know that Mr. Coffee was making a Frappe machine!” Did we buy one? No… but hubby put it on my Christmas list.
Will be interesting to see how the new Action Alley works!