Target Is Ending Its Competitor Price Matching This Month

On July 28th, Target will be ending a popular way to get video games, toys, and more at a discount. Currently, the retailer will price match for customers based on discounts being offered at competitors like Walmart and Amazon. However, according to a memo shared on Reddit, that policy will be changing next week. Instead, employees will only be allowed to match in-store prices with those found on Target’s official app and website. The memo notes that “most price matches happen within Target,” and that the decision was made “to reflect guest feedback.”

It’s not surprising that Target is ending competitor price matching. At the end of the day, this was a tool that greatly benefitted some customers, and things like that are often too good to last. Plus, it may have been difficult on store employees who were unsure about what price matches should be honored. However, the note about the decision being made “to reflect guest feedback” has drawn some frustrated responses. On Reddit, many users scoffed at the notion that customers were somehow complaining about a policy that helped them get goods at lower prices. It doesn’t make any sense whatsoever, and the fact that it was included in the memo is frankly kind of absurd. The memo can be found in the Tweet from @Wario64 embedded below.

As a result of this change, consumers are just going to have to stay as educated as possible and watch for the best deals, knowing they’ll have to lean on specific retailers now. Thankfully the internet makes this a lot easier than it was at any other point in history. It’s not as ideal as being able to walk into a store and price match what’s available from a competitor, but it’s also hard to say just how many people were taking advantage of this policy. It’s likely that there wasn’t a lot of awareness among casual Target customers, which probably made it easier to remove the policy without concern over too much pushback.

It’s likely customers wouldn’t be so frustrated about this if Target’s pricing were universal. However, that is not the case, as prices are often lower in one spot compared to others. The company’s policies basically require price watching across the store, app, and website. It’s often the case that customers will have to check the app or website before making an in-person purchase, as they can end up inadvertently paying Target more for an item when buying it from the store.

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If this policy change leads to more uniformity across Target’s buying options, that could soften the blow. Right now though, it looks like customers are still going to have to price match against Target’s own buying options, without the added benefit of being able to do so from competitors. The retailer can shift that blame all it wants to “guest feedback,” but chances are pretty good that no one wants this that doesn’t work for the company.

Did you ever take advantage of Target’s competitor price matching? How do you feel about this upcoming change? Share your thoughts with me directly on Bluesky at @Marcdachamp, or on Instagram at @Dachampgaming!