Target To Match Online Prices With eCommerce Rivals

In the ongoing retail race to get and keep the attention of customers, retailers are always looking to get a leg up on each other. And while some innovations are more profound than others, there’s still one basic bottom line that will turn customers’ heads time and time again: a good deal.

Hoping to offer just that, Target announced in a Wednesday (Sept. 30) blog post that it has formally decided to join the host of other major retailers that offer price matching for their online products. Target had previously matched in-store prices starting in 2013 with the online offerings of Amazon, Walmart and Best Buy, but this policy change now pits their eCommerce items up against that of 29 other retailers.

“These are simple changes, but they mean a lot for our guests,” Jason Goldberger, president of Target.com, said in a recent internal meeting, as quoted by ABC News.

Rather than a tectonic shift in the industry, Target’s announcement brings the company in line with what other retailers have offered customers for years. In another attempt to bring itself up to speed, Target also extended the window to request a price adjustment from the original seven days to the current 14.

Will these moves help Target strike it rich? It’s hard to say, but John Squire, CEO of DynamicAction, told The Wall Street Journal that customers hardly every go through with a price match request. Squire said that only 2 percent of shoppers end up submitting a price adjustment claim, though the mere presence of price matching can help attract customers regardless of if the service is ultimately used.

The news comes on the heels of several other moves Target has made to reposition itself in the eCommerce space. Time will tell whether it will be enough to compete online against competitors that already have head starts in the price matching game, but as far as some shoppers might be concerned, it’s better late than never to jump on the eCommerce bandwagon.

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