NEW YORK (AP) - In the latest effort to beat
Amazon.com at its game, Target says that for the first time it will
match prices that customers find on identical products at select online
competitors this holiday season.
Target Corp.'s CEO Gregg
Steinhafel told about 80 reporters at a company media conference Tuesday
that the retailers include Amazon.com, Walmart.com, Bestbuy.com,
Toysrus.com and babiesrus.com.
"We're proud of our
prices," Steinhafel told the audience. "We believe this plays into our
strength. But we also wanted to ensure our (customers) that they can
shop with confidence."
Target's bold price match
program, which covers the period from Nov. 1 through Dec. 16, is the
latest step by brick-and-mortar retailers to be competitive with
Amazon.com. Best Buy said last week that it authorized its store
staffers to match online prices of competitors in some cases.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc., and
Target have already offered price-matching guarantees for local
competitors' brick-and-mortar stores, but it's rare for stores to match
online prices since they tend to be lower and fluctuate often.
Wal-Mart, the world's
largest retailer, said last week it will keep hammering its low-price
message but has stopped short in matching prices with online rivals. The
Bentonville, Ark., retailer told investors that it now can monitor
prices across the Web every 20 minutes. That knowledge will help the
discounter better react to price changes of its competitors.
The announcement from
Target comes as the Minneapolis-based discounter is counting on keeping
its sales momentum through the holiday shopping season, which accounts
for as much as 40 percent of merchants' annual sales.
The company's business has
been fueled by two key initiatives: It has been offering a large
selection of food and also started a program in 2010 that gives shoppers
a 5 percent discount when they pay with Target-branded credit and debit
cards. Target executives said their goal for the crucial holiday season
is to put the retailer at the forefront of shoppers' minds. In fact,
Target launched its first holiday campaign on TV last week, a month
earlier than last year. Typically, retailers start holiday ads in early
November.
For the first time this
year, Target's shoppers can shop from television spots, bus shelter ads
and catalog pages by using their mobile phones to send a text or scan a
QR codes. Such marketing will begin Nov. 7 and last through the holiday
season.
In an anticipated move,
Target also unveiled its merchandise collection that marks its first
collaboration with luxury retailer Neiman Marcus. The partnership,
announced in July, is the latest effort by Target to make its offerings
more exciting.
In the late 1990s, the
discounter pioneered the idea of low-price chains teaming with designers
to create limited-time, affordable items. But since then, that strategy
has been copied by competitors.
The Neiman Marcus/Target
collection has more than 50 products from 24 designers, including
Carolina Herrera, Oscar de la Renta and Tory Burch. The items will be
available online and at Target and Neiman Marcus stores starting Dec. 1
until they run out.
Prices range from $7.99 for
Rodarte's gift wrap to $499.99 for Alice and Olivia's floral print
bike. Most items are under $60 and also include floral dessert plates
from Tracy Reese, a black and white yoga mat from Diane von Furstenberg
and a compact mirror from Judith Leiber. Target says it also teamed up
with ABC's popular TV series "Revenge" to highlight the products in the
Nov. 11 episode.
Target made headlines
during the fall of 2011 with the bungled launch of a lower-price
collection from Missoni that was so intensely anticipated that Target's
website crashed for almost an entire day, angering customers and leading
to order cancellations. But Steinhafel told reporters Tuesday that
won't happen again. The company has "doubled down" in its efforts to
improve its site since then, he said.
"We're highly confident that our website will perform flawlessly," he said.
But with the increasing
pressure from competition online, Target, like other brick-and-mortar
merchants, is hammering its low prices in a still tough economy.
Target said Tuesday that
the price match program with online retailers will be from Nov. 1
through Dec. 16. Target said the price matching won't include
Amazon.com's marketplace items. Still, the discounter's new price
matching is more aggressive than that of Best Buy, which only covers
appliances and electronics. According to Best Buy, the price match will
only be given on an "if asked" basis at the discretion of Best Buy
staffers on the sales floor.
Furthermore, Target says it
will extend the time period for its price match policy with items from
brick-and-mortar stores. It will also include prices offered by
Target.com for the first time. So if a customer purchases an item at
Target stores between Nov. 1 and Dec. 24 and then discovers it for less
at Target.com or in a local competitor's printed ad, Target will match
the price. The company also said it will be rolling out Wi-Fi in all of
its stores this fall, following other rivals who are hoping to keep
smartphone-toting shoppers in their stores.
Shoppers with
Target-branded debit and credit cards will receive an extra 30 days on
the chain's existing return policy on nearly all purchases paid with the
card at stores and online. Card holders already save on free shipping
on Target.com
File photo (MGN)
