Target is standing behind its brands — all of them. Yesterday the retailer announced it would give its customers a full-year to return or exchange any item that is part of the chain's portfolio of 32 private label and exclusive brands. All told, that covers 70,000 items.
To be eligible for a return or exchange on Target's brands, customers will need to provide the store with a sales receipt or the credit or debit card that was used to make the purchase.
In addition to its own brands, Target is extending one-year returns and exchanges to items purchased as part of its baby, college and wedding gift registries. All registry items must be returned unopened to be eligible.
"It's a bit reminiscent of Costco's liberal return policy," Edgar Dworsky, founder of Consumerworld.org, told the Star Tribune. "It certainly is an unusual move."
Target previously offered customers 90 days on returns and exchanges, the same as rival Walmart, according to an Associated Press report. Amazon allows its customers 30-days for returns.
"At Target, we're putting our guests first and are committed to offering a shopping experience that's inspiring and rooted in ease," said Kathee Tesija, chief merchandising and supply chain officer, Target, in a statement. "Our enhanced return policy offers our guests convenience we think they'll appreciate, while providing additional assurance of the quality of owned and exclusive brands found only at Target."
Target's new return and exchange policy is the latest in a series of moves made under the leadership of CEO Brian Cornell who joined the retailer last July. Mr. Cornell took over at Target as it struggled to overcome the damage caused by a massive data breach that compromised customers' accounts in 2013. At the same time he inherited a business in Canada that was losing billions. The decision was made to exit Canada back in January after Mr. Cornell and his team determined it would take until 2021 for the chain to reach profitability.
Under Mr. Cornell, Target has lowered the minimum for free shipping on online orders to $25, launched the Ava & Viv plus-size women's fashion line, focused new store expansion plans on the chain's CityTarget and Target Express smaller formats, developed a strategy to differentiate the company's grocery business and announced plans to invest over $1 billion to "to drive industry leading digital sales growth" and "become a leading omnichannel retailer."
- 365 Days of Awesome: Target Has a New Return Policy For Its Exclusive Brands and Registry Gifts - A Bullseye View
- Target latest pitch... generous one-year return policy - The Associated Press/The Charlotte Observer
- Target extends its return policy to one year on select items - Star Tribune (tiered sub.)
- Target free shipping deal undercuts Amazon, Best Buy and Walmart - RetailWire
- Target develops line just for its plus-sized 'guests' - RetailWire