Target
Target leads with strong price matching across 10 competitors, a 90-day return policy extended to 120 days for RedCard holders, and free shipping over $35. The weakest dimension is pricing transparency — Target was caught running GPS-based dynamic pricing in 2018 and faces active litigation over shelf-vs-checkout price discrepancies.
Return Policy
A- Return window
- 90 days
- Holiday extension
- Yes
- Restocking fee
- None for most items
- Return shipping
- Free return shipping for online orders via prepaid label; in-store returns free.
- In-store returns
- Yes
- Receipt required
- No
- Final-sale categories
- Opened/unsealed collectibles (e.g., trading cards), Personalized items, Digital downloads, Prepaid/gift cards, Airline gift cards
Target-owned brands (Good & Gather, Up&Up, Cat & Jack, Threshold) carry a 1-year return/exchange guarantee. Target RedCard holders receive an additional 30 days (120 days total).
Price Matching
A- Offers price matching
- Yes
- Competitors matched
- Amazon.com, Walmart.com, BestBuy.com, Costco.com, Kohls.com, Macys.com, HomeDepot.com, Lowes.com, Wayfair.com, Target.com (price drops)
- Exclusions
- Clearance items, Damaged/used items, Items sold by third-party Marketplace sellers, Contract mobile phones, Special-hour/limited-quantity sales (Black Friday doorbusters), Items requiring membership, Auction prices, Bundle/financing/rebate offers, Prescriptions and alcohol
- Post-purchase adjustment window
- 14 days
- How to request
- At time of purchase or within 14 days at Guest Services in-store with proof of lower price, or call Target Guest Services at 1-800-591-3869 for online orders.
Competitor's item must be identical (brand, model, color, size) and currently in stock at the competitor.
Shipping
A- Free shipping threshold
- $35
- Standard delivery
- 3–5 days
- Same-day delivery
- Yes
- Store pickup
- Yes
- International shipping
- No
Free standard shipping on orders $35+ or with any RedCard. Free 2-day shipping on many items. Same-day delivery via Shipt (included with Target Circle 360). Drive Up and Order Pickup free at most stores.
Payment Methods
- Apple Pay (online)
- Yes
- Apple Pay (in-store)
- Yes
- Google Pay
- Yes
- PayPal
- No
- Buy Now, Pay Later
- Affirm
- Store credit card
- Yes
- Gift cards
- Yes
Loyalty Program
B+- Program name
- Target Circle / Target Circle 360
- Free to join
- Yes
- Annual cost
- $99/yr
- Earning rate
- 1% back in Target Circle earnings on most purchases (or 5% off with RedCard instead of 1%)
- Tier benefits
- Target Circle (free): 1% earnings, birthday gift, exclusive deals, personalized offers, Target Circle Card (RedCard): 5% off every purchase, free 2-day shipping, extra 30 days for returns, Target Circle 360 ($99/yr, or $49/yr with Target Circle Card): unlimited same-day delivery via Shipt on $35+ orders, free 2-day shipping with no minimum
Target Circle 360 replaced Shipt Everyday membership in 2024.
Customer Service
- Live chat
- limited hours
- Phone support
- 24/7
- Email support
- Yes
Pricing Transparency
B- Fake sales frequency
- moderate
- Strikethrough honesty
- mixed
- Dynamic pricing used
- Yes
2018 KARE11 investigation found the Target app changed prices based on GPS — a basket of 10 items was $262 more expensive when the phone detected it was inside a store vs. in the parking lot. Target paid a $5M settlement with California DAs over app pricing discrepancies. Active class action in New Jersey alleges Target systematically charges more at checkout than the advertised shelf/sale price.
Privacy & Data Practices
- Sells customer data
- Yes
- Targeted advertising
- Yes
- Account required to shop
- No
- 2013: Massive POS breach exposed ~40M payment cards and personal info of up to 70M additional customers; attackers entered via stolen credentials from HVAC vendor Fazio Mechanical. Total cost exceeded $200M.
- 2011: Target customer email addresses exposed as part of the third-party Epsilon email marketing breach.
Third-Party Trust Ratings
- Trustpilot
- 1.7 / 5 (4,060 reviews)
- Better Business Bureau
- A+ · Accredited
- Sitejabber
- 2.2 / 5
- Knoji
- 4.7 / 5
- Apple App Store
- 4.9 / 5
- Google Play
- 4.9 / 5
Company
- Legal name
- Target Corporation
- Headquarters
- Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
- Founded
- 1902
- Ticker
- NYSE:TGT
- Annual revenue
- $107.4B
- Employees
- 440,000
- Website
- https://www.target.com
Sources
- https://www.target.com/c/return-policy
- https://www.target.com/c/price-match-guarantee
- https://www.target.com/c/shipping-delivery
- https://www.target.com/circle
- https://corporate.target.com/about
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Target_Corporation
- https://www.target.com/help/contact-us
- https://www.target.com/c/target-privacy-policy/-/N-4sr7p
- https://krebsonsecurity.com/2023/12/ten-years-later-new-clues-in-the-target-breach/
- https://www.kare11.com/article/money/consumer/how-to-avoid-target-app-parking-lot-price-switch/89-9ef4106a-895d-4522-8a00-c15cff0a0514
- https://www.retaildive.com/news/target-updates-app-after-pricing-dispute/548246/
- https://www.bernlieb.com/featured-cases/target-shelf-pricing-class-action/
- https://www.trustpilot.com/review/target.com
- https://www.bbb.org/us/mn/minneapolis/profile/department-stores/target-corporation-0704-1137
- https://www.sitejabber.com/reviews/target.com
- https://target.knoji.com/
- https://apps.apple.com/us/app/target/id297430070
- https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.target.ui
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