A PURPORTED Target insider has revealed that retail giant plans to dump a hugely popular store policy.
Uproar over the matter could incite yet another boycott from shoppers, if the response on social media is any indication.
Target will be ending a popular policy on July 28[/caption]
News of the impending removal of the price-match policy came through a leaked memo from the retail giant posted online.
The policy has allowed shoppers to score discounts on matching products sold by major competitors, including online retailers such as Amazon and big-box stores like Walmart.
To put it simply: If the same item was sold at Walmart at a cheaper cost, customers could get Target to match that price point for purchase.
Except, the memo leak noted that Target would only move forward with internal price-matching.
This will include limiting it to in-house items at brick-and-mortar locations, along with products found on the Target app and via its website.
“Since most price matches happen within Target, we’re adjusting our price match policy to exclusively match our in store, app and Target.com pricing, including Target Plus items,” read the internal document.
Following the leak, Target attempted to quell the kerfuffle by releasing an official statement on the matter.
“Target’s Price Match Guarantee, paired with our commitment to being priced right daily, ensures guests get great prices when shopping Target,” a spokesperson told TODAY last Tuesday.
“We’ve found our guests overwhelmingly price match Target and not other retailers, which reflects the great value and trust in pricing consumers see across our assortment and deals,” they added.
Despite Target’s response, shoppers on social media have made their feelings known concerning the changeover.
FRUSTRATION OVER POLICY CHANGE
The memo leak has, by all appearances, spurred further repudiation and frustration from formerly loyal customers – and Target’s public response to the matter has done little to change their minds.
“If the price match policy changes are true I guess it’s one more reason to not shop at your store,” one user wrote on X.
“It’s like you’re actively doing everything wrong to drive customers away.”
“One of the few good things [Target] had left going for it is its price match policy,” stated another.
What is Target Circle 360?
In April, Target launched its first-ever paid membership program, Target Circle 360.
For $99 a year, members get access to the following perks:
- Unlimited, free same-day delivery on orders over $35
- An extra 30 days to return your items
- Free two-day shipping on 100,000s of items
- 5% off in-store and online
- Automatic deals and exclusive partner perks
“The death of [Target] is in full motion,” predicted a poster on Facebook.
LATEST IN LITANY OF WOES
The price-cutting plan revealed by the leak is only the latest in a string of recent controversies that have plagued the big box retailer.
A massive weeks-long boycott of the retailer reached a critical point earlier this year, after Target quietly rescinded policies related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), which in turn led to a drop in sales.
That same month, others balked at an unpopular self-checkout policy at thousands of locations, which limited items to 10 or fewer to use those registers, with unattended full-service cash registers severely understaffed.
Target again came under fire in June for backsliding on the scale of LGBTQ+ merch sold specifically for Pride Month – a practice the company first introduced in 2015 as part of inclusive DEI initiatives.
Complaints over the downsized Pride-themed items also included mislabeled tags that contained word salad-like “Lorem Ipsum” filler text.
Outrage over it led to yet another slew of boycotts against the store.
If this memo link – and the reaction to it on social media – is any indication, yet another Target boycott could be right on the horizon.
Target also came under fire for increasing the price of UK candy earlier this year, only three months after it arrived in the US.
Still, the retailer confirmed price drops on at least 10,000 items this summer.
