Corporate Dear Corporate...

Please simplify your category promotions so that an average guest can understand what's eligible and what's not to qualify for the "free $10 giftcard". It's embarrassing when even we, the Advocates, are scrutinizing the weekly ad for our guest and even we can't understand what are the disqualified items.

Sometimes I think our complicated category promotions, along with the sales pressure to apply for the redcard every single time the guest shops with us, are part of why some guests actually return to shopping at Walmart (or other stores like Fred Meyer) - even if they don't prefer the shopping experience - or shopping online. Something for you to think about, Corporate.
 
jackandcat said:
Please simplify your category promotions so that an average guest can understand what's eligible and what's not to qualify for the "free $10 giftcard". It's embarrassing when even we, the Advocates, are scrutinizing the weekly ad for our guest and even we can't understand what are the disqualified items.

Sometimes I think our complicated category promotions, along with the sales pressure to apply for the redcard every single time the guest shops with us, are part of why some guests actually return to shopping at Walmart (or other stores like Fred Meyer) - even if they don't prefer the shopping experience - or shopping online. Something for you to think about, Corporate.
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I always just say only what’s exactly listed in the ad. Even though there’s sometimes more, guests usually seem to get that
 
But it doesn’t help when the signs are literally all over an aisle. Very hard for a guest to know what’s included and what’s not and in the name of making it right, I will honor it if they question it.
 
Anelmi said:
But it doesn’t help when the signs are literally all over an aisle. Very hard for a guest to know what’s included and what’s not and in the name of making it right, I will honor it if they question it.
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Likewise. When possible, I help guests get an extra qualifying item to get the deal or simply make a "making it right" adjustment. I still believe that Corporate's practice of advertising weekly-ad or Circle category offers which are poorly designed with many "gotcha" exclusions, combined with sneaky isle signage, creates needless friction for guests at checkout. Diehard Target aficionados aren't deterred, but our less-frequent guests can get rather upset (at the company) over these marketing antics - even when I as their Advocate make a "making it right" adjustment. These sneaky marketing antics also needlessly slow down the checkout lines. Needless to say, keep a warm smile and cheerful demeanor as you deal with these "sneaky advertising" situations, it's not our fault as Advocates. Turn our skeptical guests into returning guests!
 
Anelmi said:
But it doesn’t help when the signs are literally all over an aisle. Very hard for a guest to know what’s included and what’s not and in the name of making it right, I will honor it if they question it.
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Unless they are illiterate it is easy to know what qualifies and what doesn't. Just have to -gasp- read the signs.
 
Serious. The signs say as signed, and the signs on the location have a very good description of the qualifying item. To not know, a person would have to ignore the as signed and then ignore reading the description on the signed location.
 
Tessa120 said:
Serious. The signs say as signed, and the signs on the location have a very good description of the qualifying item. To not know, a person would have to ignore the as signed and then ignore reading the description on the signed location.
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Now, that's all well and good, except when our sign batch is missing some of the signs or if all corporate sends is a 7x11 for the deal, which still happens at times. Also, the weekly ad that guests see at home or online really isn't helpful in the slightest. Screenshot_20191019-175312.png
Like, this week's baby dept deal is really not specific in the ad as to what qualifies.
 
tholmes said:
Now, that's all well and good, except when our sign batch is missing some of the signs or if all corporate sends is a 7x11 for the deal, which still happens at times. Also, the weekly ad that guests see at home or online really isn't helpful in the slightest....... Like, this week's baby dept deal is really not specific in the ad as to what qualifies.
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Exactly my point. My primary career is office-related and involves an extremely high level of literacy and attention to detail. I know how to look at the stupid asterisks and exemptions, probably more so than the vast majority of our guests. Category coupons are notorious for excluding certain brands - or specific items of certain brands - and it would be helpful if the small-print font size on the exclusions was maybe 1/4 size larger so guests could actually see the exclusions. I understand why certain manufacturers or specific products are excluded, since manufacturers ultimately subsidize those promotions and some of them don't want to "opt-in" for their own reasons. Corporate seems to make it very difficult for the typical, reasonably-literate guest to find those exclusions.
 
Hardlinesmaster said:
Karen: the sign says buy 1, get 1 free. ... Tm: only on the 7.99 bags. The size is in the fine print. ....
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Even more common -- Karen: "the sign says buy 1, get 1 free"..... TM: "the offer says buy 1, get 1 at 20% off" (really ought to read buy 1 item, get the 2nd item at 20% off)
 
jackandcat said:
Even more common -- Karen: "the sign says buy 1, get 1 free"..... TM: "the offer says buy 1, get 1 at 20% off" (really ought to read buy 1 item, get the 2nd item at 20% off)
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Omg yes “it said buy one get one free! Why isn’t the one I’m buying free???”

like also have you never shopped in a store before? Why would we be giving these away for free
 
Amanda Cantwell said:
Omg yes “it said buy one get one free! Why isn’t the one I’m buying free???”
like also have you never shopped in a store before? Why would we be giving these away for free
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Not all guests read the signs carefully. I think a few guests are more used to shopping at walmart, where they just use a "rollback" with no strings attached instead of providing gift-card bonuses (ours often are a better deal with the giftcard). I have no illusions about walmart, they appear on the surface to have "cheaper" prices on frequently-bought items but walmart is very good at making profits off of less-frequently-bought items. I would not underestimate them, but walmart's approach to pricing is different than target's - not necessarily better than target's but it is simpler for some customers including the mathematically-challenged.
 
There is absolutely no excuse for guests to not read signs carefully, and absolutely no excuse to not know to read the signs. When I was 19, opposite side of the country than my family so no mentors, married to someone even more immature than I was and pregnant to boot, I learned fast to read signs to avoid a higher total than I could afford at the cash register. This included reading the bar code and comparing it to the price label to make sure that I was grabbing the right item. If a kid who went from home to military to pregnancy discharge could figure that out as part of budget self preservation, anyone can and should.
 
Tessa120 said:
There is absolutely no excuse for guests to not read signs carefully, and absolutely no excuse to not know to read the signs. When I was 19, opposite side of the country than my family so no mentors, married to someone even more immature than I was and pregnant to boot, I learned fast to read signs to avoid a higher total than I could afford at the cash register. This included reading the bar code and comparing it to the price label to make sure that I was grabbing the right item. If a kid who went from home to military to pregnancy discharge could figure that out as part of budget self preservation, anyone can and should.
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to add on-- I was raised in a more "typical" setting, with my parents, etc. and even I learned how to read signs by the time I was like 10... "look mom, if you buy another one of these, you get a gift card!" lol. it's not hard, if you have a modicum of effort
 
Amanda Cantwell said:
to add on-- I was raised in a more "typical" setting, with my parents, etc. and even I learned how to read signs by the time I was like 10... "look mom, if you buy another one of these, you get a gift card!" lol. it's not hard, if you have a modicum of effort
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Lol, don't get me wrong, I was raised in a nurturing nuclear family, but when shopping on the parents' dime, I pretty much stuck with the brands that we always used, no variation. I did learn a lot about generic foods though. But military took me far away, my stupid immaturity made me hook up (old fashioned version) with a guy with mommy issues who wanted a baby, no one had realized how severely mentally ill I was which affected my maturity, and I had to grow up fast with no local support.
 
Okay but I had a guest today who asked about the buy one get one 50% coffee sale. She wondered why the coffee pods weren't ringing up at the advertised prices. I look through the flyer and it says "ground or whole bean only" and I tell the guest that info. She says, "but the signs are all over the aisle, including the coffee pod section." I make it right and then hightail it to grocery. Sure enough, buy one, get one 50% signs all over the entire aisle, including 2 or 3 in the coffee pod sections.

This isn't just a guest issue, it 's the TM being lazy, not reading and not doing their job.
 

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