After 12 long years, Target is putting an end to its competitor price-matching policy.
The corporate giant announced earlier this week that customers will no longer be able to pricematch major competitors Amazon and Walmart at the register, an enticing option that once provided shoppers “unbeatable value,” as former Target CEO and president Gregg Steinhafel said upon the policy’s inception in 2013.
Previously, consumers could provide a competitor’s ad for a lower price—so long as it was for the same item, by brand name, size, weight, color, and model number and sold and fulfilled by Amazon or Walmart directly—and they could do so up to 14 days after their purchase.
But, starting this week, after July 28, according to reporting from CBS News, customers will only be able to match prices to other Targets or Target.com. A spokesperson told the publication that consumers already “overwhelmingly price match Target and not other retailers.”
The move also comes amid a turbulent time for the retailer, with an almost 3 percent decline in sales during the first quarter in comparison to last year’s first quarter. Current CEO Brian Cornell called the landscape an “exceptionally challenging environment” partly due to consumer uncertainty surrounding tariffs, but the retailer has also come under fire recently for dismantling its DEI program, with many formerly loyal customers vowing to boycott.
