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💀 Price matching is dead

💀 Price matching is dead

Target ends price matching, Klaviyo’s AI assistant, smarter popups, and Rally's awesome store.

Cam Wind
July 22, 2025

Welcome to the Platter Newsletter, where we cover the latest news, tactics, and trends shaping ecommerce.

In this issue

🚨 Target taps out of the price war
🤖 Klaviyo’s new shopping assistant
🛍️ Rally’s kills it with video
⚙️ Store credit, better pixels, stackable codes
🎨 Our AI Playbook LinkedIn Live
📚 What we learned from 10,000 ecommerce popups

Box stores trying to win the price war against Amazon. Spoiler: they lost.

STORY OF THE WEEK

Is the price war over?

Target is scrapping its 15-year-old price-matching policy. No more matching Amazon or Walmart at checkout.

Why? Because it’s not working. And it’s no longer sustainable.

Customers are looking for "affordable joy” through better deals, loyalty perks, and personalized offers—not just the lowest price tag. Even for big retailers, competing on price is a losing game, especially when Amazon exists.

Factor in rising tariffs, tighter margins, and increasing pressure on profitability, and it’s no surprise that Target (and others) are pulling back from blanket discounts.

What this means if you’re running a DTC brand:

You can’t out-price the giants—but you can out-story them
Loyalty and experience matter more than ever
Your storefront is your greatest asset—it needs to sell, explain, and convert (and delight)

TLDR: Price matters. But if your entire strategy is based on discounts and price, things are going to continue to get more challenging. Story, brands, and perceived value win with today’s consumers.

AI FEATURE OF THE WEEK

Klaviyo’s new shopping assistant

For all you Klaviyo users, they just launched a conversational AI agent.

It’s supposed to mimic an in-store experience. “An associate helps you find the perfect outfit and process a return all in one seamless conversation. That’s what Klaviyo’s AI Agent delivers online.”

It’s all powered by your Klaviyo data. It:

Recommends products in real-time using your catalog + user behavior
Answers complex questions instantly
Will soon handle subscriptions, returns, and more

Read the full release on their blog.

SHOPIFY UPDATES OF THE WEEK

Shopify added six new items to their changelog this week. Here is what you need to know:

Pixels on customer accounts: Customer Account and Order Status Pages now support web pixels out of the box (supports page_viewed, DOM API, and custom events).
Refund to store credit: You can now issue store credit directly when processing returns and exchanges.
Inventory adjustment reports: See changes by location, track transfers, and get a full audit trail.
Translatable image alt text: You can now translate image ALT text into different languages using CSV imports. Great for brands operating in multiple markets.
Stackable discount codes: Discount codes from shareable links can now combine with existing discounts in the cart (if combo rules allow).
Theme store refresh: Easier search, faster installs, and a smoother preview experience.

STORE OF THE WEEK

Rally’s store uses video in a creative way

Rally’s Orbital massager is a totally new form factor. There are in-market comps, but no perfect one-to-one comparison. When they built their first-ever store, it needed to do more than sell, it had to explain and educate.

As a single SKU brand, the PDP needed to do some heavy lifting. So the Platter team worked with Eko to incorporate video in order to show rather than just tell. Then layered in thoughtful UX touches across the whole storefront.

Here’s what we love about this Rally store: