Target market corporation is an American-based departmental store chain, which has its headquarters in Minneapolis, Minnesota was founded by George Dayton. It was established as the discount division of Dayton’s department store in 1962. Then in 1969, it was merged with J.L Hudson Company. Firstly during the 1980s, its store started expanding nationwide as a part of Dayton-Hudson Corporation.
Then in the 1990s, Target marketplace introduced its new format of the store under the brand name which is named Target. The first Target store was opened in Roseville, Minnesota and now they have more than 1800 stores. It is the seventh largest retailer in the US.
They made its first billion-dollar sales in 1979 and offered a Billion Dollar Sale to celebrate its achievement for its loyal customers. Presently its website has millions of visitors per day. Presently
Presently, in 2021 its total revenue is about $106 billion with 1938 stores in the U.S. It also has a facility of almost 51 supply chains and 45 owned brands.
Nowadays Target marketplace is one of the largest retail services in the US. Its tagline which says “Expect More. Pay Less.” is what makes it different from its competitors like Walmart. They basically sell quality products like clothes, accessories, and other home accessories. They offer these products at great deals and discounts, which cater to the customer rapidly. Their cheap and chic strategy worked well for them.
But their online store turns out to be a winner as, even though it faces competition from big giants like Amazon still, the trendy fashion choices and great deals offered by Target are clear-cut winners in terms of the preference of school teenagers.
They invested in an omnichannel business that transformed their brick-and-mortar store into e-commerce channels. During the Covid-19 pandemic, its e-commerce sales saw growth up to 144.7% of growth. They have also invested in same-day delivery which has increased the success of its online retail services.
A one-stop shopping strategy that worked well for Target as you can find anything in these online stores from clothes to home or kitchen appliances. It makes your shopping easy if you can find everything in one place. Let’s know in detail about the success of Target marketplace’s ecommerce strategy.
Omnichannel offering
Forum offered an omnichannel approach that allowed an absolute shopping experience from all the channels. Whether you are shopping from a brick-and-mortar store or you are doing online shopping. The omnichannel offers flexibility to the customers to choose the different shopping channels as per their convenience. They have managed Omni channels which offer the same kind of flexibility in stores that you have in online stores. It increase the traffic, availability and sales of Target.
Drive-up and pickup services
Corporation has also set up an online Order Pickup and Drive Up parking service that makes the store more convenient and hassle-free for the customers. This service allows the customer to pick up their order at the Target store from its parking lot, where the employees of Target store will directly deliver their purchase to them. As the sales with drive-up service has seen a growth of 80% in 2021, it worked in the favour of Target marketplace as this service is minimising their delivery cost. As in a normal order, delivery from the warehouse cost 90% more than the drive pick-up at stores. It has also eliminated the wait for getting the products.
Competitive pricing strategy
The exclusive price and attractive offers and deals make Target marketplace unique and captivating. If we compare the pricing strategy of Target and Amazon there will be hardly any differences. But Target had adopted a competitive pricing policy in which it offered discounts by charging more for a product than Walmart. This helps in increasing the profit margin of Target as compared to Walmart. Target mostly sells a product at some amount higher than its competitor and offers discounts on it.
They have also invested in private brands for increasing customers. Over the last 20 years, Target has managed to launch its own and latest private brands label that have been successful in catering the customers.
Same day delivery services
The same day delivery is actually what every consumer who shops online wants. So, Target has invested in to provide a same-day delivery service. This has proved to be a success for Target as their same-day delivery sales have seen a growth of 235% in 2021. Target has managed to use the impatience of customers shopping online by investing in this service. Target started offering the same day delivery services in 2017 when it acquired Shipt, a shipping company. During the pandemic it expanded this service and started to sell perishable items in a same-day delivery service.
One Stop Shopping
Amazon and Walmart are the two top competitors of Target and all of them offer a one stop shopping service. A one stop destination for buying the items needed is what every consumer dreams of, because of the busy schedule nowadays. People want to buy everything, from groceries to home appliances at one place, so that they could also save their money from delivery charges.
As, if the people will buy the items from different online stores they have to pay each of these online stores their own delivery charges. So if they could have the access to buy all the different items at the rate of a single delivery charge, then customers will definitely go for it. It also makes your shopping easy and time saving.
Its investment on all the different kinds of products and brands has helped it to revamp as a one stop shopping destination from just a retail store.
In a nutshell, there are a number of reasons why Target in ecommerce is a success story. They have managed to open Omni channels that offer the same kind of flexibility in stores that you have in online stores. They focus on brands that cater to customers in their stores and open different kinds of store formats so customers can have accessibility to stores, which are mostly in busy areas. Promoting a loyal customer base by giving discounts and other perks. Brand positioning acts as an elevation step for Target, as it attracts with its trendy fashion options and its valuable private brands.