Walmart’s New Disc-to-Digital Service $50 Gift Card Giveaway–Ends 5/1

Are you tired of seeing your DVD’s scattered all over the place getting scratched up or just misplaced? I know that is how it is at my house with my little one. Well I’m happy to say Walmart can now help with that. DreamWorks Animation Joins Walmart's Disc-to-Digital Service.

Customers can now receive digital copies of their previously-purchased movies from the following studios: DreamWorks Animation, Paramount Home Media Distribution, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, Universal Studios Home Entertainment and Warner Bros. Home Entertainment.

"Walmart's disc-to-digital service answers our customers' desire for new and flexible ways to enjoy their movie collections," said John Aden, executive vice president for general merchandising, Walmart U.S. "DreamWorks Animation's existing line-up of blockbuster films is a powerful addition to the extensive list of titles available to our customers today and we're proud to have them on-board." The new service allows movie fans to walk into any Walmart, where they can present their old DVDs and get permanent access to an online version of each movie that can be streamed from a home computer or a mobile device. The DVDs are stamped with a special ink to prevent further conversion. The DVDs, however, still can be played.
The process to convert previously purchased DVD/Blu-ray movies to digital copies is quick and simple:

• Customers bring their movie collections from the participating studio partners – DreamWorks, Paramount, Sony, Twentieth Century Fox, Universal and Warner Bros. – to their local Walmart Photo Center.
• A Walmart associate will help them create their own free VUDU account.
• Customers tell the associate how they would like their movies converted:
  • Convert a standard DVD or Blu-ray movie for $2; or,
  • Upgrade a standard DVD to an HD digital copy for $5.
• Walmart will authorize the digital copies and place them in the customer’s VUDU account. No upload is necessary, and customers get to keep their physical discs.
• Customers can log onto VUDU.com from more than 300 Internet-connected devices to view movies any time, any place.

I don't really have time to watch movies but there are a couple of favorite classics that I would like to have converted for me and my daughter. Mine are National Lampoon’s Animal House. I just love that Delta House. It is such a classic. My other is It’s A Wonderful Life. George Bailey reminds you that money isn’t the only way to be the richest man in the world and last is Grease – the original. These movies have very different meanings for different times in my life and I can watch them any time. For my daughter, we need to make sure we always have Dora, Umi Zoomi or Ni hao Kai-lan DVD’s. She loves her iPad and these DVDs make great distractions. Those are my DVD's I #CantLiveWithout.

Here is your chance to win a $50 Walmart Gift Card to have your own #CanLiveWithout DVD's converted to digital.

Disclosure: Giveaway has been provided by Walmart

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Walmart Identifies Top Easter Trends:

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Can you believe that Easter is just a few days away? Today I stopped by Walmart and picked up some stuff for Buggy’s Easter basket. The place was absolutely insane. Walmart has some awesome pre-made baskets which are convenient if you need to run in and just grab something quick or a plethora of supplies to make your own basket.  Since Buggy doesn’t get any candy, I chose to make my own because the premade baskets have tons of candy.

Walmart continues to listen to their customer by “broadening its Easter assortments to ensure customers can purchase the gifts they want to give and receive this holiday. They identified the following Easter trends which show customers moving beyond the traditional bunny and finding innovative ways to plan and save this holiday".


Here is what they found:

• Chocolate is the Basket Winner: Among those families planning to celebrate Easter this year, almost 60 percent are planning to buy chocolate and candy. Walmart has low prices on the following favorites:
• Cadbury Eggs 5-pack or Reese’s® Eggs 6-Pack (6.6 – 7.2 oz) - $2.78
• Starburst® Jellybeans (7.3 – 14 oz) - $1.88
• Marshmallow Peeps® Bunnies or Chicks (3 – 3.75 oz) - $1 each

• Outside of Christmas, Easter is the #1 Season for Toys: Licensed toys continue to attract shoppers. In fact, Walmart is also offering licensed novelty Easter basket items including the popular Disney Princess and for the first time, Hello Kitty. Other Top toys include:
• Barbie® Mermaid Tale Doll Beach Doll - $5.97
• Disney® Ballerina Princess - $7.88
• Select Lego® Items - $19.97 each
• Lalaloopsy™ Doll - $18.97
• Beyblade™ XTS Half-Pipe Battle Set - $34.96

• Top Easter Necessities are Grass, Eggs and Baskets: Walmart shoppers will purchase enough eggs to line up from New York City to Los Angeles eight times, which is equal to one trip around the earth. Other must-have items include:
• Green Easter Grass (1.5 oz): $0.28
• Plastic Easter Eggs (10 ct.) : $0.50
• Easter Buckets/Baskets: $0.97

• Older Kids Get Better Baskets: Moms said as their children age, they are shifting from giving more trinkets and toys to larger gifts such as electronics, clothing and gift cards. A few tween favorites include:
• The Macbeth Collection® Speakers, Headphones, or iPod Case - $9.88
• The Lion King Blu-ray™ and DVD Combo Pack - $19.96
• Sony PSVita™ System with 5” front touch screen - $249

• Customers Seek Out Quality Fresh Food: Nearly 90 percent of customers that prepare an Easter meal prefer to cook the meal themselves vs. buying something pre-made.
  • Walmart’s premium Sam’s Choice™ Highest Quality Spiral-Sliced Smoked Ham will be available at a low price of $1.98 per pound.
  • Customers can find recipes and meal solutions at www.facebook.com/walmart.

“Our customers told us that price matters the most when shopping for candy, food and apparel this Easter,” said Laura Phillips, senior vice president, toys and seasonal at Walmart U.S. “We have made sure their favorite Easter items are available at a low price so they can build the perfect basket, entertain their loved ones and enjoy the holiday without spending too much.”

You can read the actual press release here.

Disclaimer: This is strictly an informative post. No compensation was received.


Irene

Walmart identifica las principales tendencias de la Pascua

For English click here

Según los clientes de Walmart a lo largo de los EE.UU, a la hora de celebrar uno de los días familiares más importantes de la primavera, el Domingo de Pascua, el poder  personalizar su canasta de Pascua, así como usar ingredientes frescos para la comida familiar son estímulos fundamentales para la celebración. Walmart escuchó y ha ampliado su surtido de Pascua para asegurar que los clientes puedan comprar los regalos que quieren y celebrar este día festivo.

Walmart también identificó las siguientes tendencias sobre la festividad del Domingo de  Pascua, que muestran que los clientes quieren celebrar más allá del  tradicional conejito y están buscando formas innovadoras de planear y economizar en este día festivo.

· El chocolate es el ganador: Entre las familias que planean celebrar la Pascua este año, casi el 60 por ciento están planeando comprar chocolates y caramelos. Walmart tiene precios bajos en los siguientes favoritos:
· Paquete de 5 huevos Cadbury o Paquete de 6 huevos de Reese's® (6.6 – 7.2 oz) - $2.78
· Caramelos de goma Starburst®  Jellybeans (7.3 – 14 oz) - $1.88
· Conejitos o Pollitos Marshmallow Peeps® (3 – 3.75 oz) - $1 cada uno

· Aparte de la Navidad, el Domingo de Pasqua es la temporada #1 para la compra de juguetes: Los juguetes con licencia siguen atrayendo a los compradores. En efecto, Walmart también está ofreciendo novedosos productos con licencia para canastas de Pascua, entre ellos la popular Princesa de Disney y, por primera vez, Hello Kitty. Otros excelentes juguetes son:
· Barbie®  Mermaid Tale Doll Beach Doll - $5.97
· Disney® Ballerina Princess - $7.88
· Artículos selectos de Lego® - $19.97 cada uno
· Lalaloopsy™ Doll - $18.97
· Beyblade™ XTS Half-Pipe Battle Set - $34.96

· Los principales elementos para la Pascua son hierba o pasto, huevos y canastas: Los clientes de Walmart comprarán una cantidad de huevos que si fueran puestos en una fila irían de Nueva York a Los Angeles ocho veces, lo que equivale a un viaje alrededor del mundo. Otros artículos esenciales son:
· Hierba o pasto verde de Pascua (1.5 oz):  $0.28
· Huevos de Pascua plásticos (paquete de 10):  $0.50
· Cubetas y canastas de Pascua:  $0.97

· Los niños más grandes reciben las mejores canastas: Las madres dijeron que cuando sus hijos crecen, pasan de dar más baratijas y juguetes a regalos más grandes, como equipos electrónicos, ropa y tarjetas de regalo. Entre los favoritos de los preadolescentes están:
· Altavoces, audífonos o estuche de iPod de The Macbeth Collection®, - $9.88
· Paquete combinado de The Lion King Blu-ray™ y DVD - $19.96
· Sistema Sony PSVita™ con pantalla frontal táctil de 5" - $249

· Los clientes buscan comidas frescas de calidad: Casi el 90 por ciento de los clientes que preparan una comida o cena de Pascua prefieren cocinar ellos mismos en vez de comprar alimentos preparados.
· El Jamón de primera Cortado en Espiral Sam's Choice™ de la más alta calidad de Walmart estará a la venta al precio bajo de $1.98 la libra.

· Los clientes pueden buscar recetas y soluciones para la comida o cena en www.facebook.com/walmart.


"Nuestros clientes nos dijeron que el precio es lo que más importa cuando buscan caramelos, comida y ropa esta Pascua", dijo Laura Phillips, vicepresidenta principal de juguetes y productos estacionales en Walmart U.S. "Nos hemos asegurado de que sus productos favoritos de la Pascua estén a la venta a un precio bajo, de modo que puedan crear la canasta perfecta, atender a sus familiares y amigos, así como disfrutar el día festivo sin gastar demasiado".

Irene

Walmart Unveils "Great For You" Icon

Change is coming to a Walmart near you. Walmart has jumped on the let’s eat healthier bandwagon and recently unveiled the “Great For You” icon at an event in Washington, D.C. “Great For You” will initially appear on select Walmart Great Value and Marketside items, as well as on fresh and packaged fruits and vegetables at Walmart U.S. stores nationwide this spring.

I think this is a great move for Walmart. With the ever growing obesity issue, especially with our children, this is a great way to assist parents in making healthier choices for their families. The icon is supposed to serve as a guide to help people make incremental changes to their diet by encouraging more nutritious food choices.  In this two-step process, Walmart is encouraging consumers to eat healthier foods such as fruits, vegetables, fiber-rich whole grains and low-fat dairy. Step two limits the amount of total, trans and saturated fats, sodium and added sugars that can be found in items such as sweetened oatmeal, granola bars, flavored yogurt and frozen meals. These are all great ideas but I wonder if Walmart can take it one step further and include some healthy low fat recipes that include some of these items. I think many consumers can look at this list and think because they are healthy and low fat, low sodium that they may not taste as good. We all know how blah low sodium soup tastes don’t we.  With some easy and quick recipes that parents can make with the kids it may help in getting the them to make healthier food choices and think differently about what they are putting in their mouths.

Items with the "Great For You" icon must meet rigorous nutrition criteria informed by the latest nutrition science and authoritative guidance from the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Institute of Medicine (IOM). Developed in consultation with food and nutrition experts from the public and private sectors as well as leading health organizations. This is great because it tells you that they are not just slapping an icon on your food labels and saying yea this is healthy.

Walmart’s initiative includes reformulating packaged food to reduce sodium and added sugars and eliminate industrially produced fats by 2015; making healthier food more affordable by providing savings on produce and reducing the price premium on better-for-you food items; developing solutions for food deserts; and increasing charitable support for nutrition education programs.

Here are a few other things that Walmart has been working on:

• Making healthier food choices more affordable - The company surpassed one of its key goals, helping customers save $1.1 billion by offering low prices on fruits and vegetables.
• Increasing support for nutrition education programs - Over the past year, Walmart and its Foundation have provided more than $13 million in grants to nutrition education programs.
• Providing solutions to address food deserts by building stores - As part of its commitment to provide solutions to food deserts, Walmart announced it would provide more than 1.3 million people living in more than 700 USDA designated food deserts with access to fresh and healthy food.
• Reformulating thousands of everyday packaged food items by 2015 - Walmart has been working to reduce sodium and added sugars in 165 food items.

These are all great things that Walmart is doing. Walmart moms are talking and Walmart sure looks like they are listening. To find out more about the “Great For You” icon and to view the video you can click here to read the press release.