In an attempt to offset inflation and dwindling retail sales, Target is cutting pricing on some of its most popular items.
This week, the chain announced it is slashing prices on 5,000 popular items across a slew of categories — 1,500 items will see immediate price cuts, while another 3,500 items are set to be at lower prices by the end of the summer.
“We know consumers are feeling pressured to make the most of their budget, and Target is here to help them save more,” said Rick Gomez, an EVP and chief food, essentials, and beauty officer at Target, in a release. “These new lower prices across thousands of items will add up to additional big savings.”
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Price reductions will affect popular grocery finds from sports drinks to bagels and include toiletries and household necessities from big-name brands, including Clorox and Huggies.
Target-owned in-house brands Good & Gather and Everspring will also see deductions on key items.
The decision to slash prices comes ahead of Target’s Q1 2024 earnings call, expected to happen Wednesday at 10 a.m. EST.
Target reported a stronger-than-expected fiscal 2023 and Q4 2023, thanks to “efficiency efforts” that saved the company more than $500 million year-over-year, a big focus of which was doubling down on retail theft.
However, even though profits were up, overall retail sales dropped by 1.7% in 2023 for the first time since 2016.
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“Our team’s efforts changed the momentum of our business, further improving our sales and traffic trends in the fourth quarter while driving profitability well ahead of expectations,” Brian Cornell, chairman and CEO of Target said in an earnings release, at the time. “Looking ahead, we’ll continue to invest in the strengths and differentiators that have delivered strong financial performance over time.”
Target was up over 2.2% year over year as of Tuesday afternoon.