Archived Online Price Matching

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Is anyone else confused about what is accepted and what isn't when it comes to online price matching? It seems recently that they keep changing the rules especially for Amazon.com. It used to be that we could match amazon if the item was sold by amazon and not by a seller but where does fulfilled by amazon fall?

Now my gstl says that we can't match prime but I'm ninety nine percent sure that he doesn't know what he is talking about, which he rarely does. And the GE agreed with him which is sad as well. Prime simply means that it's eligible for free two day shipping, it's not a discounted price. I know because I actually have amazon prime.

Did any other stores get hit with the sony speaker 50 percent off cartwheel deal? People were price matching amazon to bring it down to 50 dollars and then getting half off of that in addition. I had one guest get four speakers for a hundred dollars. I think this is where these new rules came from but its just annoying at this point because no one knows what they are talking about.
 
That isn't how the cartwheel should work. If the price for the item is still higher than the internet price AFTER the cartwheel has been taken off, then we can honor the internet price, without cartwheel. If the price with cartwheel is less than the internet price, then there is no price match.

The fulfilled by Amazon has me confused as well, but here's how we generally do it at my store...if the item is eligible for Amazon prime, then we will price match to it...if it isn't, then we don't. That generally answers the question as to whether or not there's a third party involved.
 
That isn't how the cartwheel should work. If the price for the item is still higher than the internet price AFTER the cartwheel has been taken off, then we can honor the internet price, without cartwheel. If the price with cartwheel is less than the internet price, then there is no price match.

The fulfilled by Amazon has me confused as well, but here's how we generally do it at my store...if the item is eligible for Amazon prime, then we will price match to it...if it isn't, then we don't. That generally answers the question as to whether or not there's a third party involved.

Next to all items it clearly states "sold by...." Then it'll say amazon or another party. I don't think whether it's eligible for prime or not means anything.

The price matching we are pretty lenient on. We will price match, then do coupons/cartwheel. I do not think this is correct though.
 
Price match + cartwheel is really no different than price matching on a item with a free giftcard/item promotion. They get it after the price match regardless of what the price was adjusted to.
 
We will price match, then do coupons/cartwheel. I do not think this is correct though.
It's not because of situations like the one blugirl was talking about. We don't want to sell our items cheaper than the competition. We'll match them to prevent people from going elsewhere.

For the Sony speakers, the MSRP is $100. Amazon had it on sale for $50. Once cartwheel was scanned, it came down to about $25.

We put that cartwheel out to match that discount, not to supplement it. Unless amazon starts allowing cartwheel discounts on top of their sale prices there's no reason to do both. It's the same concept as not allowing TM numbers on price match.
 
I agree with that but it's really hard to know what they have on their cartwheel and/or what their intentions are when they have cartwheel discounts to use. But I don't know if I could have refused the use of the cartwheel because there is nothing to back it up. It's also hard when you ask the etl for guidance and they tell you to make the guest happy.
 
The answer is no way on the price match. That speaker was 2 weeks ago at 50.00. Then mark up at spot. Amazon did the change on Sunday at 50.00, when cartwheel did 50% off. Don't do price match, not valid. IMO.
 
We will price match, then do coupons/cartwheel. I do not think this is correct though.
It's not because of situations like the one blugirl was talking about. We don't want to sell our items cheaper than the competition. We'll match them to prevent people from going elsewhere.

For the Sony speakers, the MSRP is $100. Amazon had it on sale for $50. Once cartwheel was scanned, it came down to about $25.

We put that cartwheel out to match that discount, not to supplement it. Unless amazon starts allowing cartwheel discounts on top of their sale prices there's no reason to do both. It's the same concept as not allowing TM numbers on price match.


I agree with you, but leadership at this store says to do it. BE BOLD. It is ridiculous. We allow TM discounts on price matching also.
 
We will price match, then do coupons/cartwheel. I do not think this is correct though.
It's not because of situations like the one blugirl was talking about. We don't want to sell our items cheaper than the competition. We'll match them to prevent people from going elsewhere.

For the Sony speakers, the MSRP is $100. Amazon had it on sale for $50. Once cartwheel was scanned, it came down to about $25.

We put that cartwheel out to match that discount, not to supplement it. Unless amazon starts allowing cartwheel discounts on top of their sale prices there's no reason to do both. It's the same concept as not allowing TM numbers on price match.


I agree with you, but leadership at this store says to do it. BE BOLD. It is ridiculous. We allow TM discounts on price matching also.
If mgt says to do it for guests, I will. Not for tm's.
 
We will price match, then do coupons/cartwheel. I do not think this is correct though.
It's not because of situations like the one blugirl was talking about. We don't want to sell our items cheaper than the competition. We'll match them to prevent people from going elsewhere.

For the Sony speakers, the MSRP is $100. Amazon had it on sale for $50. Once cartwheel was scanned, it came down to about $25.

We put that cartwheel out to match that discount, not to supplement it. Unless amazon starts allowing cartwheel discounts on top of their sale prices there's no reason to do both. It's the same concept as not allowing TM numbers on price match.


I agree with you, but leadership at this store says to do it. BE BOLD. It is ridiculous. We allow TM discounts on price matching also.
If mgt says to do it for guests, I will. Not for tm's.

Why not? We have tm purchase guidelines that prevents us to take advantage like hiding products or purchasing from the backroom etc etc so I think if something is allowed for guests it should be allowed for team members after all tm's off the clock are guests.

I'm not saying tm's should use inside info to scam but if it's something that certain store does frequently for guests they should do it for tm's

On a separate note at my store they also allow tm discount on price match and I agree with that.

Just my 2 cents (or should I say just my yearly raise?)
 
TMs can use their discount on any paper ad or on target.com price matches. It is only on the other .com price matches that we cannot yes our discount.
This is straight out of the guest service handbook that my coworker and I looked at two weeks ago when we were discussing this.
 
We had somebody trying to get that price match on that speaker and use cartwheel for the 50 percent off yesterday. I heard our Guest Service TM ask one of our Senior Team Leads about it. She told him we could either price match, or use the cartwheel ap. Not both.
 
The LOD told my guest they could not use the price match then Cartwheel. Luckily the guest said it was worth the try and bought it anyways.
 
I saw that speaker on cartwheel this past Sunday. We didn't have it on the floor so I searched for it on target.com and eventually found it in the back room. Long story short the price on target.com was $56 for the large one and $69 for the small speakers so I price matched it for the guests looking at it. I've never tried but can you use cartwheel on target.com? If so price matching off our own website would be no different than flexible fulfillment.
 
according to policy you cannot use target coupons or cartwheel AFTER price matching and you can also not get a gc after price matching. We don't follow the giftcard rule but we do the others.
 
No GC after price matching? Wow! I love working at GS but this is why I keep telling them they need to train TMs like me that cover breaks, lunches & shifts when they are desperate.
 
What about a print ad from Dollar General? A guest was price matching a current printed ad from Dollar General & the GE-ETL said no. He said if the store isn't listed on the screen then we don't match it. I thought one of the choices on that screen was "other" but I'm probably wrong.
 
If it is a current local ad, you are supposed to price match. The options apply for the most commonly price matched stores nationally, so you won't see smaller chains listed.
 
As long as they have a current print ad and you have a Dollar General within 50 miles, then it is acceptable. You are correct...that is what the "other" choice is for.
 
As for as guests are concerned I really don't agree. They came out with the BE BOLD & if you read it, it mainly applies to front end. As the front end our sole purpose is TO TAKE CARE OF THE GUESTS! It's in our cole roles & especially now with the new rollout were trying to gain the customers loyalty & trust back and hassling them over coupons, cartwheel, or price match is not the way at all. Too many TM' s on the front end are trying to be AP simply just take care of the guests & if that's a problem move to another department because that's what they want us to do now! And gsa/gstl/etl-ge should be enforcing it the most & holding the team accountable.
 
So you're saying do it until someone tells you not to? That's usually what I do. I did 4 price challenges on 4 of the same item last night. I was probably only supposed to do one.
 
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