As we have noted before, some store-based retailers, such as Target and Best Buy, have stepped up their price-matching efforts in an attempt to fend off customer defections to online competitors. But this approach has it downsides, too.
This is what Renee Dudley and Lindsey Rupp report for Businessweek: “Although price-matching promotions have been around for years, they’ve become a key marketing tool to attract shoppers squeezed by stagnant wages and 7 percent-plus unemployment. It can be a risky strategy. Not only are the programs hard to manage, they’re often left to the discretion of an individual cashier. Price matching can backfire if shoppers don’t get the deal they expect and leave confused or angry. In February, Toys ‘R’ Us agreed to review its ads after a consumer complained to an industry watchdog that workers didn’t understand how its policy worked. Toys “R” Us declined to comment.” Click here for Dudley’s and Rupp’s full story.
Click the image for a Businessweek video on price matching.
Retailing: From A to Z 
At my current employer we have discovered that we are being impacted by “show-rooming” from our customers. We have experienced customers coming in to our stores to touch and feel the merchandise, as well as getting my associate’s product knowledge about the item; only to have the customer go onto Amazon.com (often in the store) and buy the item for a few dollars less. In this situation price matching is becoming just another cost of doing business in retail.