After 12 years of holding strong to a price-matching guarantee, retail giant Target has discontinued its policy of matching the prices of such competitors as Amazon and Walmart, according to Forbes. As of July 28, Target abandoned its 2013 value promise of a 14-day price-match window, in which shoppers could pay at Target the lower advertised prices from other retailers.
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“We’ve found our guests overwhelmingly price match Target and not other retailers,” was the official reason given from Target in an unusual statement given to USA Today. By indicating that price matching wasn’t widely used — rather than too expensive for the company to continue — the discontinuing of the policy seems strangely unnecessary.
Additionally, the statement appears to indicate that Target shoppers are matching prices with Target itself (such as expecting in-store prices to match online prices), which one would expect of any retailer.
Why Now?
The change comes at a difficult time in Target’s history. The retailer’s profits were down 1% in 2024 from 2023 (a difference of nearly $1 billion); 2025 has not been much better. First-quarter profits dropped by 2.8% for Target following a boycott related to the retailer’s announcement it would scale back diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) employment policies.
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Forbes further noted that Target’s monthly foot traffic has increasingly dropped from February through June, with shoppers turning away from the famously red-hued retailer.
While it remains to be seen how canceling its price matching policy will impact Target, the decision will certainly impact Target shoppers — quite simply, they’ll be paying on average 5% to 13% more on average than they were before.
Savvy shoppers will tell you that Target prices run approximately 13% more expensive than Amazon, and 8% more than Walmart. This means that Target-goers who normally take advantage of price matching will now be stuck with Target’s higher price-points, something that may cause even more bleeding for the ailing company than it has already suffered in 2025.
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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Target Ends Price-Match: What It Means for Your Wallet in 2025
