Walmart

Increasing shopper traffic in stores was a challenge for Walmart throughout 2011, but it was a different story online. The retailer surged to number 18 on the November ranking of the top 50 U.S. Internet properties compiled by online measurement firm comScore.

Walmart.com registered 58.5 million unique visitors in November, a big lift sequentially from October when it had 45.2 million visitors and, more impressively, well above November 2010 when comScore showed Walmart.com with 51.8 million visitors.

C’mon people. Christmas comes the same time every year and every year there are those scrambling to make last-minute purchases. Walmart is looking to appeal to this shopper segment with some interesting solutions that leverage its multichannel capabilities and give new meaning to the phrase “last minute shopping.”

The company’s Pick Up Today service was being aggressively promoted with email marketing and social media efforts to remind gift-givers products ordered online by noon on Christmas Eve would be available for pick up in store by 6 p.m.

There were no new surprises during November regarding prices at Walmart, but then that is to be expected. The everyday low price strategy to which Walmart has a newfound adherence is boring and that’s the way the company and presumably its customers like it.

Enfamil Newborn baby formula was quickly pulled from shelves at 3,000 Walmart stores earlier this week following the death of an infant in Missouri, the Associated Press reported.

In cultural commentary about the American economy, one company at a time always seems to be the goat. Everything it does is interpreted as evil, according to a recent column by Bloomberg’s Michael Kinsley.

SAN BRUNO, Calif. — Walmart announced that its Vudu entertainment service is now available Xbox 360. Xbox LIVE customers can now shop Vudu’s library using new, interactive features such as voice search, voice control and Kinect gesture commands to rent or own the latest Hollywood hits, TV shows, cinema classics and independent gems in standard or high definition, the company said.

As an incentive to get customers to try Vudu on Xbox, Walmart announced that Vudu is offering a $4.99 credit toward their first rental or purchase. 

Bentonville, Ark. -- Wal-Mart Stores said Monday that, on the eighth day of its "12 Days of Giving" Facebook campaign, it is awarding $140,000 to nine nonprofits aiding veterans, active members of the military and their families.

Over 12 consecutive days, Walmart will award a total of $1.5 million to 145 organizations in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico.

Yes, you read that correctly. Walmart will need to hire an estimated 4.3 million people over the course of the next five years to keep pace with anticipated growth and turnover. No wonder the company is such a big supporter of an organization known as Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE), which held its Global Partner Summit in Rogers, Ark. earlier this week.