Target Expands Online Price-Match Policy to Include Amazon, Wal-Mart
September 30 2015 - 2:40PM
Dow Jones News
Target Corp. said Wednesday its website will start matching
prices from the websites of rivals like Amazon.com and Wal-Mart
Stores Inc., a significant broadening of its policy as the retailer
heads into the competitive holiday shopping season.
Starting Oct. 1, Target.com shoppers will be able to match
prices at 29 websites, including those of brick-and-mortar rivals
like CVS Health Corp. and Costco Wholesale Corp., as well as online
only sites like Diapers.com. Target will also match prices from
those sites in stores, expanding its current list of five rival
websites as well as its own.
Price-match policies have become widespread among retailers,
which previously resisted such offers for fear of losing too much
money. Target itself hotly debated matching Amazon.com's prices
internally for nearly nine months before implementing the initial
policy in late 2012.
These days, retailers are constantly monitoring rival websites
for price changes and will follow price drops to stay competitive.
Prices are harder to change quickly in stores, however, so they can
be higher for an item that has dropped even on the retailer's own
website.
Even so, customers rarely take up these offers. John Squire, CEO
of DynamicAction, a retail analytics firm, said that on average
just 2% of shoppers use price match policies. But offering to match
prices helps increase odds that a sale takes place.
The policies include caveats. The products have to be an exact
match, and the retailer, not a third-party seller on the retailer's
website, must have it in stock. Shoppers can usually only use it on
one item.
Target wouldn't disclose how often shoppers ask for price
matches. A Target spokeswoman said Wednesday that implementing the
price-match policy never had a material impact to its business. The
retailer also doubled the time frame where it will allow price
adjustments to two weeks.
Though Amazon.com is considered a major competitor, Target
doesn't have as significant an overlap with the online retailing
giant as some other retailers in at least one category. According
to data from Boomerang Commerce Inc., Target.com overlapped with
Amazon.com on just 77 of 1,200 consumer electronics items surveyed,
compared with 240 at Walmart.com. On those items, Target was about
6.8% more expensive than Amazon.com, according to Boomerang.
Target's policy mirrors the one in place at Wal-Mart, which
matches online prices at Walmart.com with 30 other sites. Wal-Mart
matches prices from Dollar General and Family Dollar Web
operations, the outdoor retailer Cabela's and auto-parts retailers
like Autozone.com. Target, meanwhile, includes the beauty products
retailer Ulta and the online home furnishings site Wayfair.com.
Write to Paul Ziobro at Paul.Ziobro@wsj.com
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
September 30, 2015 14:25 ET (18:25 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2015 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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