How Big Was Target's Latest Deal Days?

Target's most recent Deal Days event, held in stores and online Oct. 10–12, succeeded in giving an additional boost to already-rising store traffic, a new report from Placer.ai suggests. 

The latest iteration of the event marked the first time that Deal Days promotions were available in stores, as well, rather than exclusively at Target.com and through the Minneapolis-based retailer's app. With that change, Target saw foot traffic increase each day over the same three-day period (Sunday through Tuesday during the second full week of October) in 2019. On a two-year stack, visits were up 3% on Sunday, 15% on Monday and 20% on Tuesday, traffic analytics firm Placer.ai found. 

In addition, Target's Deal Days traffic topped visits from an already-strong September: In-store visits last month were up 11% vs. September 2019, and still, traffic on Monday, Oct. 11, was 6.9% higher than the Monday average for the previous five weeks. "Not only did the brand drum up interest with Deal Days, but they did it even compared to a uniquely strong period in the five week prior," Placer.ai's Shira Petrack wrote in a blog post on the company's website.  

Target Corp., in detailing its latest Deal Days event, also announced an expanded Holiday Price Match Guarantee starting Oct. 10 that lets request a price adjustment on almost any item purchased if Target lowers the price through Dec. 24. The retailer said it's also continuing to price-match offers from select competitors—including Walmart and Amazon—within 14 days of an item's purchase.

On Tuesday, Oracle Retail reported that 52% of U.S. respondents to its latest consumer survey said they had already started their holiday shopping or planned to shop earlier than usual this year, with 28% saying they were worried that products they seek will be more expensive due to scarcity and a similar share, 27%, expressing concern that the products they want won't be available. Target, like rival Walmart, has sought to reassure customers that despite supply-chain headaches, it's ready to meet holiday demand. The Bullseye brand is "partnering closely with our vendors and transportation partners to move [product] quickly to our stores," Target said last month.