Two days ahead of its Q1 earnings call, Target announced that it’s lowering prices for 5,000 “frequently shopped items across its assortment,” including milk, bread, diapers, and pet food. So far the retailer has lowered the “everyday regular prices” on 1,500 products and plans to cut thousands more over the summer.

“We know consumers are feeling pressured to make the most of their budget, and Target is here to help them save more,” Rick Gomez, executive vice president and chief food, essentials and beauty officer at Target, said in a press release.

The cuts will apply to national brands across its food and beverage, health and beauty, and household essentials departments, as well as private-label brands such as Good & Gather and Everspring.

• As inflation has persisted and US consumers have started trading down, a handful of major retailers have announced price-cutting initiatives in the last six months. In April, craft supplier Michaels said it would mark down more than 5,000 items with discounts between 15% and 40%, and in December of last year, Ikea said it would lower prices on around 600 items.

Matt Pavich, senior director of strategy and innovation at Revionics, told Retail Brew that Target is focused on what are commonly referred to as key value indicators (KVI)—items that influence a customer’s perception of a retailer’s pricing vis a vis its competitors.

Keep reading here.—AV

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When online shoppers see a sales price that’s much lower than the strikethrough price above it, the deal may seem too good to be true. Now a lawsuit claims that when it comes to Home Depot, some of its online items were too good to be true because of “false-reference pricing.”

The complaint, which seeks class-action status, was filed by two Texas consumers. One of them, Jason Londrigan, says he purchased a Samsung washing machine from Home Depot in September 2023 for $578, which he perceived as a 35% discount from the presumed regular strikethrough price of $899; however, in the seven months that followed the purchase, the washer never sold for that regular price, with the presumed discount price ranging from $550 to “just over” $800, according to the lawsuit.

Keep reading here.—AAN

On Wednesdays, we wear pink spotlight Retail Brew’s readers. Want to be featured in an upcoming edition? Click here to introduce yourself.

Michael Gunther is VP and head of insights at consumer data firm Consumer Edge.

How would you describe your job to someone who doesn’t work in retail? Consumer Edge (CE) is a data and insights company that delivers unique views into global consumer spending behavior and offers our industry expertise to help businesses and investors make strategic data-driven decisions. As vice president and head of insights at CE, I leverage my expertise and market intelligence to guide investors and businesses in using a variety of data sources. I lead a team of seasoned data and financial analysts who are able to harness and interpret diverse forms of data including global credit card transactions, e-receipt data, and web scrape data to better understand where consumers are spending their money.

One thing we can’t guess about your job from your LinkedIn profile? One thing you couldn’t guess from my LinkedIn profile is that I love crossword puzzles. I even created a Slack channel with my colleagues dedicated to playing the New York Times Crossword Puzzle Dailys.

What’s your favorite project you’ve worked on? One of my most memorable accomplishments was leading the development of a large Insights Team. Today, the team is widely recognized as an industry differentiator.

Keep reading here.—EC

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