Price matching – that magic word has become a new mantra for retailers, whether online or physical stores. With the huge growth of ecommerce and lower prices offered by online retailers, not just Amazon, many brick & mortar stores are now forced to price match Amazon to stay competitive.
Price Matching
Price matching is a policy that ensures that retailers will match a lower price for the same item by a competitor. This practice is not new, but it has grown exponentially in recent years as a result of the explosive growth of online retail. Many online retailers offer better prices for identical products when compared to brick and mortar stores. This has been one of the main reasons for the ever-increasing popularity of online stores, forcing small and even long-established brick & mortar retailers to go out of business.
As a response, many physical stores are now offering to price match Amazon, the biggest online retail store. Amazon built its retail business on a few basic principles – good customer focused service, and low-price guarantee for the products sold on that site. With the introduction of Prime membership, free shipping was assured for most orders, and it also provided other benefits like Prime exclusive deals, pushing up Amazon sales even higher.
Other online retailers began to offer price-matching with Amazon, but the brick & mortar retailers did not respond as quickly. They had their physical store operations overhead to consider. However, with many brick & mortar stores also going online, the need to price match became more important, as customers could compare online and instore prices and were expecting the same deals irrespective of the sales channel.
Now, officially or unofficially, price matching has become an imperative tool in retail strategy. Here are some of the top brick & mortar retailers who will price match with Amazon.
Stores That Offer Amazon Price Match
Many of the top brick & mortar chains now price matching with Amazon for many products, whether it is an officially stated policy or not.
JCPenney
This retailer will price match Amazon as part of its lowest price guarantee. The buyer has 14 days to find a lower advertised price on an identical item and provide proof of that at the nearest JCPenney physical store, or call the customer service number and show them how to locate the lower price offer. This Amazon price match only applies to items sold and fulfilled by Amazon.
Nordstrom
This fashion retailer will price match with Amazon for identical items, the same size, color etc. Buyers can contact customer care number or send an email with the lower price details, to get a price adjustment. Only items sold and fulfilled by Amazon are considered for this price match.
Lowe’s
This home improvement store provides a 30-days window for price adjustment. If a customer finds the same item being sold at a lower price on Amazon within this period, Lowe’s will do Amazon price match. The customer must submit proof of that lower price offer to Lowe’s to get the price match.
Bed Bath & Beyond
If you purchase an item from this home goods store and within 14 days of the purchase find the same item listed at a lower price on Amazon, you can get a price match. Of course, offers from third-party sellers on Amazon are not considered for this price matching.
Fry’s Electronics
Fry takes Amazon price match one step further. If customers find a lower price for the identical item on Amazon within 30 days of purchase, or if the customer bought the item using a Fry coupon code and Amazon price is even lower than the discounted price, Fry’s will refund 110% of the price difference paid by that customer for that item. This applies only to items sold and fulfilled by Amazon.
Best Buy
Best Buy will price match with Amazon during the purchase, or during their return and refunds period. Customer must provide proof of the lower price for the same item at Amazon at the sales counter in-store, or contact a customer representative over the phone with the details.
Of course, other big retailers like Target and Walmart also offer Amazon price match. Target provides a 14-day window for price adjustment. Walmart will price match for identical items sold and fulfilled by Amazon and only if that item is in-stock on both Walmart and Amazon.
Amazon price match is more or less becoming the norm for major retailers, but conditions apply. Besides the normal return and refund window and the “no price-match with third-party sellers” conditions, there are other caveats. Lightning deals, Prime exclusive offers, coupon code discounts etc are not considered for price matching. Otherwise, most brick & mortar retailers now routinely offer Amazon price match for products sold in their stores. Like Fry’s, some stores like JCPenney and Home Depot will match the price and then add an additional 5 to 10% of the price difference to the refund as a customer loyalty incentive.
