Target and Costco are two renowned retail chains of the U.S. Target has the vision to help customers to explore the joy of everyday life with a tagline of “Expect more, pay less”. On the other hand, Costco has the vision to provide a place where members have access to incomparable savings through efficient buying and operating practices. Since both the stores offer competitive pricing, their comparison is always the question in a customer’s mind. Let us know about “Does Target Price Match Costco?”
Price is an amount of compensation given by the customer to the seller in return for goods or services. Target matches the price of items that are also selling at Costco only if the items are identical and in stock at both stores and online at the same time. Both Target and Costco offer similar product categories like apparel, home textiles, furniture, electronics, groceries, footwear, jewelry, toys, sports items, and much more. But both Target and Costco have designed or formulated pricing strategies differently as their target market is different. But Target offers to pay back some amount of payment if the customer found a better price at Costco for a similar purchase within 14 days by verifying the original invoice.
Pricing Strategy And Target Market
“Pricing strategy” is the most important pillar for the business development and marketing strategy of any organization. There are very different pricing strategies that can be used by business management teams, but the most effective pricing strategy can be identified by evaluating the company’s pricing position, segment, and capability.
Target market for Target are individuals between the ages of 18 to 45, mostly white, married, well-educated, who earn middle to upper income. Whereas, Costco targets educated customers of age 30 or above with middle to upper income who have families and small business owners or working professionals.
Business Model And Competitive Advantages
Target’s business model is centered on the face of promoting positive customer experience and employee satisfaction with progressive roles. And Costco’s business model supports selling branded products at comparatively low prices to allow the purchaser to buy items in bulk so that small to medium size businesses are the potential customer for Costco.
“Competitive advantages” support businesses to build brand loyalty and capture the target market efficiently. Target’s primarily competitive advantage is its ability to make and sustain a loyal customer base along with other competitive edges such as marketing campaigns, strong brand image, store locations, nationwide presence, reasonable prices, variety of brands, and appealing concessions. Similarly, Costco has established competitive advantages like a warehouse membership model, low prices, selling in bulk, and a strong supply chain management system.
Does Target’s Price Match Costco’s?
Target is a reputable retailer known for its money-saving deals on a variety of products. Also, Target offers a price match scheme as a marketing tactic to retain customer loyalty by providing an incentive for shopping at Target. It is a policy at Target that permits customers to ask for the lowest prices on products. According to that policy, if the buyer finds the purchased item at a lower price in any other retail store, then Target will match that lower offered price. But claimed item must have the same model number, must be from the same brand, same size, quality, color, and weight.
If the customer is using the Target app for a price match with Costco, then the customer must make sure that the price of the product is for the current visiting store location. Also, if a lower price on an item at Costco could not be confirmed by Target, customer complaints would get rejected. This policy is not eligible for sale and promotional offers and the buyer must show a printed or digital invoice of the lower price as proof while claiming a refund. Target does not entertain customer claims for a lower price in conjunction with other offers such as clearance items, sale items, damaged items, and coupon purchases.
There is some condition in which Target does not offer price match such as:
- Services of mobiles phones, pharmacy purchases, game reservations, clinics, opticians, and product services
- On items out of stock currently
- On the holidays of Thanksgiving and a full week later
- Stores at Hawaii and Alaska locations do not offer a price match policy
Conclusion
Target has many competitive dominances that are tough for competitors to achieve. However, Costco has a purpose to provide members with good quality products and services at possible lowest rates. Costco offers quality products at substantially low prices as compared to other whole sellers. But Target gives price match offer with Costco products both in stores and online that provide customers the best value for money. Conclusively, Target’s price match policy as an advertising scheme overrules all other retailers collectively.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
- What is Target?
Target is an American retailer that was established in 1962 by Dayton Company and headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota U.S. As of the 2022 S&P 500 Index, Target is the 7th largest retailer in the USA.
- What is Costco?
Costco is an American MNC or international membership warehouse that works on membership for warehouse stores chain. It was instituted in 1983 in Washington, U.S.
- Does Target’s price match Costco’s?
As of 2022, Target offers to match prices of items within 14 days after purchase that retailed at Costco at the time of purchasing.
