Christmas Wars Heat Up as Target (TGT) Joins Best Buy (BBY) in attack on Amazon (AMZN) and Wal-Mart (WMT)

Well, so much for a relaxing holiday season in retail. Any expectations that Mega-retailers were going to play nice this year were dashed yesterday when struggling retailer Best Buy (NYSE: BBY) announced a bold new plan to combat "showrooming" – when customers shop in-person and buy online.

Best Buy hopes to put an end to showrooming once and for all by matching Amazon's (Nasdaq: AMZN) prices. In the past, Best Buy announced plans to match in-store prices but never attempted to compete with online retailers like Amazon and EBay (Nasdaq: EBAY).

Today, Target (NYSE: TGT) entered the price war by announcing that they would also match prices on select online retailers. Target's CEO Gregg Steinhafel told reporters at a conference Tuesday that the retailers include Amazon.com, Walmart.com, Bestbuy.com, Toysrus.com and babiesrus.com.

Target's price match program will cover the period from Nov 1 through Dec. 16.

---

Serious News for Serious Traders! Try StreetInsider.com Premium Free!

---

You May Also Be Interested In

• Target (TGT) PT Raised to $175 at Guggenheim
• TJX cut at Citi as disappointing Marmaxx comp shows off-price isn’t immune
• Value-focused retailer sees traffic momentum strengthen ahead of second quarter