Gift Card Guide

CNBC - In particular, they are waiting for legions of shoppers armed with gift cards to snap up bargains and buy fresh new merchandise that just hit store shelves. Merchants in past years have received a late bounce during big clearance markdowns, and they More about gift cards

AZCentral.com - NEW YORK - Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world’s biggest retailer, said Wednesday it is having problems processing gift cards. In a statement, Wal-Mart said once it discovered the problem, it investigated and found that a “third-party verifier’s systems More about gift cards

BusinessWeek - The greatest percentage of gift cards are redeemed in January, say analysts, and redemption allows stores to post gift card sales as revenue. Wal-Mart is airing television ads for its gift cards this week, luring in consumers with the promise of no More about gift cards

Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel - Experts say post-holiday sales and promotions will continue through much of January, when many shoppers redeem gift cards. And retailers said Wednesday they’re optimistic that the holiday shopping season — expected to be the slowest in five years More about gift cards

New Orleans Times-Picayune - The kids say they were just walking down the street opening mailboxes, looking for cash in Christmas cards and gift cards,” he said. The pair had likely gone through the Bon Village and Heritage Park subdivisions in their spree, Foltz said. Police More about gift cards

Detroit Free Press - steady crowds of discount-hunting shoppers at Detroit-area malls, many of whom were making new purchases, not returns. Nearly one in five consumers, or 18%, were expected to head out to stores Wednesday to return or exchange gifts, redeem gift cards More about gift cards