Sears launched SearsVacations.com last week, a full-service travel web site that allows customers to put everything from cruises to the Bahamas to golf trips in Hawaii on layaway.
Through the SearsVacations' layaway plan, customers put down at least 10% for a cruise or a vacation package and pay off the rest in self-determined increments that must be paid in full before the trip.
"[I]t's a natural fit for Sears," said Shannelle Armstrong, the company's director of public relations. "We have a layaway at Sears, the store, so our customers are used to more flexible payment options."
Other contract terms, such as the exact payment deadline and the refund policy, vary with the company offering the trip. Unlike Sears' in-store layaway program, there is no initiation fee in the SearsVacations.com layaway plan.
[Related: Vacation Packages]
Layaway programs regained popularity during the recession when many retailers revived them, especially around the holidays. However, Sears is one of the first major retailers to offer such a program for vacation packages.
Similarly, warehouse club Costco offers vacation packages with the option of paying off the trip later, but few other major retailers offer options like this. Most travel companies give customers the choice to pay a down payment and then make a final payment before embarking on the trip, although some allow for payment plans.
Through the SearsVacations' layaway plan, customers put down at least 10% for a cruise or a vacation package and pay off the rest in self-determined increments that must be paid in full before the trip.
"[I]t's a natural fit for Sears," said Shannelle Armstrong, the company's director of public relations. "We have a layaway at Sears, the store, so our customers are used to more flexible payment options."
Other contract terms, such as the exact payment deadline and the refund policy, vary with the company offering the trip. Unlike Sears' in-store layaway program, there is no initiation fee in the SearsVacations.com layaway plan.
[Related: Vacation Packages]
Layaway programs regained popularity during the recession when many retailers revived them, especially around the holidays. However, Sears is one of the first major retailers to offer such a program for vacation packages.
Similarly, warehouse club Costco offers vacation packages with the option of paying off the trip later, but few other major retailers offer options like this. Most travel companies give customers the choice to pay a down payment and then make a final payment before embarking on the trip, although some allow for payment plans.
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