Retailers Quietly Eliminate Layaway Programs

Many retailers have been quietly shutting down their layaway programs, including big retailers such as Walmart (Bentonville, AR), reports CNBC.

The main reason for this move is that shoppers have a wider selection of online programs like After Pay (Melbourne, Australia) and Affirm (San Francisco) at their availability that allow them to purchase now and pay later over time. These plans are mostly interest free as well.

According to RBC Capital Markets, shoppers who use these programs will buy more items at a time, bringing incremental sales up to 20 to 30 percent per transaction.