Since 2013, Target shoppers have been able to request a price match if they found an identical item sold for less at Amazon or Walmart. Soon, that retail perk will be over.
Target said on Wednesday that it would be ending its price-matching policy next week.
The policy allowed shoppers who could prove that they found a lower price for an item (provided it was the identical brand name, size, weight, color and model number, and was sold by Amazon or Walmart) to receive a price match, according to the Target policy.
But starting July 28, shoppers will not be allowed to buy such items at the lower price, a Target representative said in a statement. The only price matching that will be permitted will be if a cheaper price is found on the Target website or in one of its stores. The statement said that Target’s customers are more likely to receive a price match on items sold at different prices by Target than they are on items sold by other retailers.
When Target’s price-matching policy was introduced in early 2013, Gregg Steinhafel, the retailer’s chief executive at the time, said it would enable customers to “shop at Target every day for the best value in retail.”
But Target has been struggling to rebound from a difficult 2024, when it reported inconsistent sales growth and a tumbling stock price.
The new policy puts Target in line with some rival retailers who don’t offer price matching, said Neil Saunders, managing director of the retail consulting firm GlobalData, but it also means that it has to be more exact in its pricing. “The onus is on Target now to make sure its pricing is right,” he said.
Retailers already monitor competitors’ prices and make real-time adjustments, he said, noting that technology has made this process a lot more sophisticated.
But he cautioned that consumers compare prices on big-ticket items like electronics, and that is where Target could lose customers if it doesn’t set prices competitively.
The move comes at tender time for Target, which has been contending with underperforming sales and economic uncertainty brought about by President Trump’s tariffs, as well as a slowdown in consumer spending and a backlash to its retreat from diversity efforts.
The company’s latest earnings report, issued in May, fell short of expectations for quarterly sales, and the retailer slashed its full-year financial forecast. Target now expects a low-single-digit decline in sales this year, down from a projection a few months ago of a small gain.
Mr. Saunders said that while the price-matching policy “may be only very marginal for Target,” in a challenging economic moment for retailers, every little bit helps.
In addition to the tariff uncertainty, Target’s financial challenges include its weak profitability, poor forecasting and inventory management, and difficulties with staffing, Mr. Saunders said.
Staffing challenges can also lead to messy aisles, items not being replenished and not enough registers being open, he said.
“It’s friction in stores that pushes people away,” Mr. Saunders said, “and pushes them to rivals.”
Aimee Ortiz covers breaking news and other topics.
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