While that sounds good, it is probably not true. As a matter of fact, the more a retailer can ride the line - having a price match program, but having customers not use it - the better. Retailers don't make money off of loss-leaders. They make money when customers buy goods generally, not just at the clearance rack or on discount. Customers that drive the edge of the price match policies are more likely to be customers who just shop the loss-leaders, and less likely to be customers who pay full price (i.e., most profitable) for anything. So even if the price match policy does turn off a certain percentage of those customers, as long as the idea that the retailer matches prices attracts enough customers (because many figure that prices must be low if they're willing to price match so much), then having the policy as it is, and operating price matching as they do, makes the most sense.
Absolutely on-target. A large portion of consumers have made things the way they are, by their purchasing behaviors, and now the retailers just have to deal with this "stinker" as best as they can. Eliminating it completely isn't the right answer, nor is allowing it to eat into profits any more than necessary.
You're one of the customers Target really wants.
Let's hope it does work, because the alternative is to simply do away with B&M. Could you imagine shopping for clothing without ever being able to see it, anywhere, before buying it? Online retailers will always have less overhead than B&M. If we consumers continue to increasingly buy based on price, then online retailers will prevail, and B&M will have no choice but to go in one of two directions, either boutique ($$$$$) or out of business. Of course, it's already happened a lot. Will we one day end up with Main Street storefronts converted into warehouses, from which online orders are fulfilled for one specific online retailer - no showroom? While I don't think it will go to that extreme, the trend in that direction is very clear, and very strong, and every year we consumers lose more and more access to touch and feel the things we buy before we buy them. But how many of us are willing to pay enough extra for the same thing - enough to cover the additional overhead costs plus provide some profit for doing so - to buy from a B&M? Will we stop "shopping" B&M, just taking from the B&M store the insights we get from shopping, but making our purchases online?
