Conversation Corner No. 13 - Holiday Price Matching

For a few years now, retailers have been upset because customers come into their brick and mortar stores look at products then ultimately buy from the likes of Amazon, Newegg and others. This has now forced them to price match this holiday season.

This week, Steve and I talk about holiday price matching by retailers.

Is this good for consumers?

Have a listen:

Target Stores to Also 'Price Match'

Foreshadowing an intensively competitive battle this holiday, Target Corp. said on Tuesday that for the first time, it will match select online rivals’ prices in its stores between Nov. 1 and Dec. 16.

Those retailers include Amazon.com Inc.(US:AMZN), Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Best Buy Co. and Toys “R” Us Inc, Chief Executive Gregg Steinhafel said at its media day in New York.

Target will be “highly promotional and intensely competitive” on prices, he said. “Consumer sentiment is still below the pre-recession levels, but improving,” he said. “They are more comfortable making larger purchases.”

Target also will match its own website pricing for the first time between Nov. 1 and Dec. 24. Traditionally, the company, like most other retailers, only matches its local rivals’ print ad prices. Best Buy has reportedly said it also plans to match some competitors’ online pricing. Toys “R” Us plans to only match its competitors’ in-store pricing. Wal-Mart also only matches rivals’ local print pricing.

Best Buy to do Some 'Price Matching' This Holiday Season

In an email I received from BFads/// heading towards Black Friday.

One story that received significant attention this week was Best Buy's announcement that they will be price-matching online retailers this holiday season while also offering free shipping on items not available in stores. The new policy is said to go into effect starting Sunday, November 4.

Unfortunately, this is not a carte blanche policy as Best Buy will only price-match a limited list of 20 online merchants (Amazon and NewEgg are included on this list), will not price-match the week of Black Friday through Cyber Monday, and most importantly, will allow Best Buy customer service representatives to honor the policy at their discretion.

The new policy appears to be an effort to curtail "show rooming" – the practice of testing out products in-store before purchasing the item online (usually from the lowest priced retailer).