DENVER — Most shoppers assume they are getting a better deal when they purchase store-brand items over their name-brand equivalents. However, Denver7 has recently discovered that this is not always the case at Target stores.
Following weaker-than-expected quarterly earnings, the retailer has shifted focus toward more competitive pricing, especially on back-to-school products. However, some of Target’s store-brand pricing decisions have us scratching our heads.
Denver7 noticed a few months ago, while conducting a Smart Shopper comparison that some Target-branded items were priced higher than their national brand-name equivalents, which seemed counterintuitive.
While the vast majority of store-brand items are indeed cheaper than name-brand items at Target, Denver7 found at least four examples where that was not the case.
For example, a 1-ounce bottle of Target brand up&up hydrocortisone anti-itch cream 1% was priced at $5.59, while the name-brand equivalent, Cortizone 10, was about 30 cents cheaper at $5.29.
Another example of Target’s unusual pricing: an 8-fluid-ounce bottle of the up&up brand Children’s Daytime Cold & Cough was priced at $11.29, which was $1 more than the 8-fluid-ounce bottle of Children’s Dimetapp.
Other price discrepancies Denver7 found included office supplies and additional health and beauty items.
A Target store manager Denver7 spoke to said they are powerless to make any price changes as they are all set at the company's Minneapolis headquarters.
Denver7 has reached out to Target multiple times to get a better understanding of these apparent pricing errors, but we have yet to hear back.
Regardless, purchasing store brands over national brands is almost always the better deal, even at Target.
But shoppers should compare price tags before purchasing, as this isn’t the first time the Minneapolis-based retailer has faced scrutiny for its unusual pricing strategies.
Consumerist.org, a now-defunct consumer blog that Consumer Reports operated, called out the retailer several times in years past for what it called “Target math.”
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