Target expands price-matching. Can it compete with Amazon, Wal-Mart?
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Corey Fedde Staff
Retail giant Target is expanding its price-matching policy in time for the holiday season.
Target Corp. said it will match prices of 29 of its rivals in stores and online for 14 days, either in-store, online, or over the phone. The move is a major expansion of the company鈥檚 previous price-matching policy, which allowed a seven-day window and in stores only.聽
The extended list is also making news for including major Target rivals Amazon and Wal-Mart for the first time. Wal-Mart, the brick-and-mortar retail giant with an increasing online presence, has long had Target.com on its price-match list, but Target has not offered to match Wal-Mart previously. The list also contains other online-only stores like Wayfair and Newegg, as well as membership-only stores like Costco and Sam鈥檚 Club.
"These are simple changes, but they mean a lot for our guests," Jason Goldberger, president of Target.com said at a meeting with store managers in Minneapolis.
Target鈥檚 e-commerce business has been a major source of growth for the company. Last quarter, the e-commerce business sales increased by 30 percent in 2014. Target has also rolled out more competitive online policies. This past holiday season, the retailer lowered the minimum-shipping threshold to $25 from $50 and offered free shipping with no minimum threshold.
Even with recent successes and adoption of online-friendly policies, the question remains over whether Target can compete with large rivals Amazon and Wal-Mart.
Wal-Mart has US sales four times larger than Target, but even it has had a lot of catching up to do online. According to e, both retailers were getting 3 percent of sales through digital commerce compared to the industry norm of 6 percent in March. But, while Target鈥檚 digital sales rose 40 percent during the last holiday quarter, Wal-Mart jumped only 18 percent.
鈥淭arget鈥檚 more nimble size allows agility to drive sustainably higher online growth,鈥� Cowen analysts wrote, according to .
Neither brick-and-mortar retailer, however, has offered a competitive equivalent to Amazon鈥檚 "Amazon Prime" membership, which offers free 2-day shipping nationwide, along with other perks. Amazon has also started rolling out a new membership program that offers 1-hour delivery in select cities.
The coming holiday season will be a聽competitive one. Consulting firm AlixPartners predicts an increase in holiday sales from 2.8 percent to 3.4 percent this season from 2014, according to聽
