The Easy Way to Price Match at Target

I freely admit that I'm the crazy person you see at Target who scans every single item with her phone before she places it in the cart. But that's because it's the easiest way to save money at Target.

All you have to do is download the Target app (iOS or Android). I have an iPhone so all the photos below are for the iOS version, although I expect the Android version looks similar, if not the same.

A few years ago, Target came out with Cartwheel, which offers discounts and coupons on select products. Cartwheel is what got me into the habit of scanning everything, and I absolutely love it.

More recently, after an update to the app, I noticed that Target was showing the online price of an item whenever I scanned something. Unfortunately, many times that online price was lower than the shelf price. This may not be - and probably isn't - the case in much of the country. But here in expensive Southern California, it happens to me all the time. I finally remembered Target's price match policy, which means they'll match their online price in-store. Even better, once I started price-matching, I discovered that I don't have to go to Guest Services - any cashier can price match at the register.

Here's how it typically goes for me:

The first thing I do when I start shopping inside Target is open the app and click on "Cartwheel offers."


Then I click the search icon at the top right.


Then I click on "Scan a barcode," and scan my way through the store, looking for deals on the items on my shopping list.


On my last trip, I bought clam juice for the clam chowder that's on my menu plan this week. I didn't get a picture of the shelf tag, but it was $2.19. However, when I scanned the barcode, it came up $1.89.


So when I was checking out, after the clam juice was scanned, I showed the cashier my phone and the lower online price. The cashier changed the price for me and I saved an easy $0.90 for a few seconds of time. You can see I actually saved an additional $0.90 by price matching the canned clams, which had a shelf price of $1.89, but were only $1.59 online.


Do you have a favorite way to save money at Target?