Secrets Of Target's Grocery Section You'll Wish You Knew Sooner

It's hard not to notice that grocery store prices have soared over the past few years. Even if you aren't the type of person to pay close attention to prices as you shop, the overall bill is a shocker. It's not your imagination, prices for food in the U.S. have risen 30% since 2019. Wages, on the other hand, have not seen similar increases. It's worth your time to check your local area for grocery stores with discounts and savings on all your favorite items. 

Although Target has been selling groceries since the introduction of its larger SuperTarget Stores in 1995, it's only in the past five years or so that the retailer has expanded its food selection, offering more specialty items, organic foods, and fresh produce. With these changes, Target has grown its grocery store business by over $8 billion since 2019. Some of its fan-favorite grocery items are from its private-label brands, including Good & Gather, Market Day, and Favorite Day. We've rounded up some insider secrets to Target's grocery aisles to help you find deals and tasty items on your next Target run.

Many stores have days of the week when it's best to snag deals or find new items on the shelves, and Target is no different. Although the weekend may be your grocery shopping time, you may want to switch up your schedule and go during the week. According to several online sources, Target has an "unofficial markdown schedule." While it could vary by region, it appears Tuesdays are the food markdown day. 

It pays to do some investigating at your local Target to see whether you do indeed find markdowns on food items on Tuesdays. Because new shipments of food and fresh produce come on Tuesdays, you will likely find Target employees marking down last week's fresh produce and other food items to make way for the new shipment. Once you've determined the markdown schedule at your local Target, you can plan your Target run around the days when you may score some great deals on food, fresh produce, and bakery items.

If you don't want to miss any deals, it pays to download the Target app. You can either use the app in store or shop from the app and pick up groceries at the store, curbside, or have them delivered. It's also convenient to do a quick search via the app before you go if there's a certain item you are looking for to be sure it's in stock.

After downloading the Target app and creating an account, you are automatically entered into the free Circle membership. Furthermore, the Circle program has recently been revamped. It used to be that you had to go through the app and apply any deals to your account before you checked out to get the savings. This could be a time-consuming process if you had a full shopping cart. Target now adds the deals automatically when you check out, saving you the step of searching for them yourself. Also, you can use a Target credit card (the Target Circle Card) for 5% off your entire purchase and free two-day shipping. 

Cardholders also get a discount on the paid Circle 360 membership. As for this service, we aren't sure if it's worth it. If you shop frequently at Target and often order same-day delivery, it may have value. But for most shoppers, the free Circle membership with a store credit card is likely the best deal for their purposes.

Unlike shopping at Trader Joe's, you can easily find national store brands in Target grocery sections. But you shouldn't overlook Target's in-house grocery brands. You can find specialized products, fan favorites, and money savings when you shop Target's three grocery brands. The private brands include Favorite Day, Market Pantry, and Good & Gather.

Market Pantry has been around the longest and was launched in 2001. Though you can still find Market Pantry items, Good & Gather has overtaken the brand with an expansion of products. And then there is Target's newest store brand, Favorite Day, which showed up in 2021. Favorite Day offers sweet items with fun flavors, such as Sea Monster Ice Cream and Gummi Sharks. While Favorite Day is a fun brand for sweets, Good & Gather, the largest of the brands, is more practical. Good & Gather items tend to cost less than name brands and are also produced free of artificial flavors and many common additives. Good & Gather's cottage cheese and orange juice ended up ranking highly in Chowhound's recent product reviews.

Target's Good & Gather brand has sparkling water at lower prices than name brands. For example, my local Target is currently selling Good & Gather for $3.29 for an eight-pack. This is less than the same-sized packs of Waterloo and La Croix sold at Target. The Good & Gather brand also has fun flavors such as Pomegranate Dragon Fruit, Yuzu Mandarin, and Peach Bellini.

The sparkling waters are well-liked by customers, with one shopper on Reddit writing, "The yuzu and mandarin is my absolute favorite!! I also like the raspberry hibiscus. But honestly they have so many good flavors. The good and gather brand is my favorite sparkling water, I was hooked as soon as I discovered it." Another fan of Target's sparkling water commented on Reddit, "the strawberry mango reminds me a lot of bubly's bellini bliss. now i'm on the hunt for more mango flavors."

While savvy shoppers know to be wary of end cap displays (this is a common marketing trick to lure a shopper into spending more), Target actually offers some good bargains. End caps are the outward-facing section at the end of each aisle. Many grocery stores place flashy items or new seasonal products here, with the goal of getting shoppers who are in the store buying basic supplies to try a fun, new item. 

But Target uses many of its end cap aisles to stash its clearance items, so be sure to check for special deals on your next Target run. You may find deeply discounted or clearance items and snag a good deal instead of getting ripped off. Just remember, don't buy something you weren't going to buy anyway. This is when end cap deals can end up costing you more than you bargained for.

Here's how you can save the most money at Target using coupons. One, download the app, register for Target, and automatically get Target Circle savings offers. Two, you can combine Target store coupons with manufacturer's coupons. And finally, make your purchase using your Target credit card and save an additional 5% on everything. 

Even better, a recent change to Target's policy means you can now order online or in the Target app and have it delivered or pick up in store, while using Circle deals, store coupons, manufacturer's coupons, and the 5% Target card savings. Before this change, you could only use Target store coupons online, and the manufacturer's coupons had to be presented in person. Being able to combine the three types of coupons Target offers along with the store card means customers can really maximize discounts when shopping in store or online.

If you find an item sold elsewhere at a lower price than Target, it may be worth taking advantage of the price match policy. Target's policy is that if you bring in proof of the price you want to match, either to the checkout lane or guest services, the employee will match the price of your item. You can even bring in Target-bought items you've already paid for that have gone down in price and receive money back, as long as you bought the product within the past 14 days. 

Target also sometimes runs specials where you can get a price match for a longer period of time for Target items when they go on sale, (this is usually during the holidays). The item must also be currently in stock at either Walmart or Amazon, according to Target's official website. So don't expect a price match from eBay or other third-party sites. 

This policy can be worth it if you have one or two big-ticket items that are at a substantially lower price at Walmart or on Amazon. But, if you find a lot of lower-priced items that don't save you much more than pennies, it may not be worth your time. Remember that the employee checking you out will have to verify each price with you and enter it manually, which can be time-consuming. 

People can get pretty passionate about their choice of frozen pizza brands. After all, it's an easy weeknight meal and is much less costly than ordering pizza delivery. But just because it's a frozen pizza doesn't mean it shouldn't taste nearly as good as takeout, or at least come close. If you want an easy frozen pizza to pop in the oven, you should give Target's Good & Gather brand a try.

Target's Good & Gather Four-Cheese Pizza Rising Crust won first place in a blind pizza taste test by Bon Appétit. According to the review, the pizza had a "complex and richly flavored sauce; a light, stretchy cheese topping; and, most importantly, a sturdy, crispy crust." Meanwhile, Good & Gather's Self-Rising Crust Uncured Pepperoni Frozen Pizza was given good marks by The New York Times Wirecutter. And one Redditor said of the Signature Wood-Fired Margherita Frozen Pizza, "best frozen pizza I've ever had, zero exaggeration."

This isn't unique to Target — most stores have clearance deals on seasonal items after the holiday is over. But it's definitely worth checking Target if you want to get some cheap candy and you don't mind the holiday theme. While you're bargain shopping for next year's wrapping paper, head over to the seasonal candy aisle and see what deals you can find. And it's not just candy, look for baked goods and other holiday-themed treats to go on sale after the holiday. 

However, hold off on heading to Target the day after Christmas. On December 26, holiday items will be 50%, and this will increase to 70% off between December 27 and 29. But, if you can wait until January, the Krazy Coupon Lady reports that Target's clearance schedule is up to 90% off holiday items starting January 4. This includes candy, snacks, gingerbread house kits, holiday food, and also wrapping paper, and other Christmas decor. This trick works for Easter, Halloween, and other holidays. The day after, products go on sale at 50%, but just wait it out a week and you can likely score up to 90% off seasonal items.

Admittedly, this one won't save you a fortune, but it's a nice perk if you already use reusable bags or are considering doing so. Target will give you a five-cent discount per reusable bag you use to pack up your purchases. You don't have to go through a staffed checkout lane for the savings. If you are in a lane with a cashier, tell them how many reusable bags you brought. If you're in a self-checkout lane, you can manually input the number of bags you brought to get the savings.

What's more, depending on where you live, you could be charged a bag fee for drive-up and pick-up orders. According to the Target website, "Different stores have different bag policies" and "to avoid fees, tell us you'll bring your own bags to the store." If this is the case at your location, Target offers the option to decline the bags and bring your own.

We all know we need to get more greens in our diets. But washing, prepping, and cutting an assortment of fresh veggies for a salad can sometimes sound like too much to take on for a busy weeknight. This is where bagged salad kits come in. Target has a nice variety of chopped salad kits. Some of the options include Avocado Ranch, Classic Caesar, and Nashville-Style Hot Chopped Salad Kit. While some salad kits come with wilted greens and tasteless dressing, Target's salad kits get good ratings.

One Redditor said, "Target's Good and Gather chopped salad kits are always winners, and enough variety that I don't get bored." The Avocado Ranch has 4.6 stars out of 5 on the Target website with 786 ratings. The Nashville-Style Hot Chopped Salad Kit has 4.7 stars out of 5 and over 1,000 ratings, with one reviewer stating, "This salad is sooooooo good. It's warm/spicy, creamy, the crunchy pickles are perfect.... Easily one of my favorite salads, especially store-bought." Even better, they are currently on sale for only $3.49 per bag.

Not every Target store is created equal. The larger the store footprint, the larger the grocery section is going to be. An expanded grocery department means you will find more food options, more fresh produce, fresh meat, deli selections, and bakery items. Some of the older, smaller Target stores may have limited groceries available. However, Target has been putting an emphasis on improving its grocery sales in recent years by offering more choices. 

The larger stores used to be called SuperTarget, and though some of the stores may have kept that name, you will notice when a store gets remodeled, even the largest locations are called Target, not SuperTarget. This former Target employee explains on Reddit, "SuperTarget branding is no longer used, but the concept still exists. There are still large format stores with produce/deli/bakery/etc but they're just branded as normal Targets." Although you no longer need to look for the SuperTarget name, look for larger locations for the most options. 

One benefit to shopping at Target as opposed to a store like Trader Joe's, for example, is that not only does Target offer private store-label items, but it sells name-brand products as well. You can buy specialty items, such as Favorite Day Peppermint Whipped Dairy Topping, or you can buy the well-known Reddi-Wip brand. Although Target store brands are often good quality and are likely sold at a lower price than name brands, it's nice to have a variety of choices at one store. 

There is also an advantage of shopping at a larger store with a massive inventory. As enjoyable as shopping at stores like Aldi and Trader Joe's can be, there are times when you're forced to make a second shopping trip to pick up all of your essentials. The benefit of a Target run is having everything you might possibly need conveniently under one roof.