Sources: Academy Sports + Outdoors, Lowe's, Fry's Electronics, Target
Academy Sports + Outdoors this holiday season is joining other retailers in offering to not only match competitor’s prices, but to beat them.
Under its "Price Match + 5%" guarantee, if a customer shows a competitor's price is lower, Academy will beat it by five percent. As typical with many retailers, customers must show a print copy of the competitor's ad or a digital version of the ad on their phone.
Academy offers a chat option and a phone number for its customers shopping online to validate the ad and earn the price adjustment. Shoppers have 14 days post-purchase to come back for an adjustment.
The move appears unusual among larger chains and could be a response to greater competition from Dick's Sporting Goods. The nation’s leading sporting goods chain recently opened its first doors in Houston. Nearly half of Academy’s stores are in Texas.
Among other major chains, Lowe’s promises to beat competitor prices by 10 percent. Home Depot makes the same promise, but with more restrictions.
Fry’s Electronics price matches on the initial purchase, but offers a post-purchase price-beat guarantee. If you buy an item at Fry’s and then find a lower price elsewhere within 30 days of purchase, the retailer will refund 110 percent of the difference. For electronics items, the price-match period is 15 days.
Most retailers only match the prices of nearby competitors at the same price. For consumers, the price-matching offers seen as more generous (or advantageous, valuable, liberal, etc.) promise to match a wider range of retailers. Some, for instance, won’t price match Amazon as well as the warehouse clubs and dollar stores. Others don’t match any Internet-only retailers.
Last year, Target extended its price-matching list from five to 29 competitive e-commerce sites. It also moved to honor a price match for a period of up to 14 days after purchase, versus seven previously.- Academy Sports + Outdoors continues tradition, remains closed on Thanksgiving Day – Academy Sports + Outdoors
- Guaranteed Best Prices – Academy Sports + Outdoors
- Everyday Low Prices – Lowe’s
- Low Price Guarantee – Home Depot
- Fry's Will Not Be Beat! – Fry’s Electronics
- Walmart and 10 Other Stores Offering Price Match Guarantees – MSN
- Target takes price-matching to a whole new level – RetailWire