Bed Bath & Beyond Offers to Buy Toys"R"Us Gift Cards for Store Credit
Bed Bath & Beyond announced that it will purchase shoppers’ Toys"R"Us and Babies"R"Us gift cards, offering store credit in return for a limited amount of time. The retailer is accepting Toys"R"Us and Babies"R"Us gift cards with a balance of at least $20 through midnight Thursday. A shopper will receive a Bed Bath & Beyond e-gift card instantly, but the exchange value won't be exact. The retailer notes that prices can vary. Shoppers can check how much they will receive on the website before agreeing to a swap. A Toys"R"Us gift card worth $100, for example, would be worth $64.20 in store credit at Bed Bath & Beyond. Shoppers have until April 21 to use their gift cards at Toys"R"Us and Babies"R"Us stores.
Total Retail's Take: Bed Bath & Beyond, among other retailers, is trying to capitalize on the impending closure of Toys"R"Us and the void it will leave in the marketplace. Bed Bath & Beyond is betting that many consumers would be willing to trade for less than equal value to avoid being stuck with a gift card that in three weeks will be rendered worthless. There's a couple of factors at play here: one, Bed Bath & Beyond can potentially acquire new customers — and their valuable data — through the gift card exchange program and, two, the home goods retailer is betting that it can drive some incremental purchases from the program. It's an interesting tactic by Bed Bath & Beyond, and I'm curious to see how many consumers take it up on this offer.
