Target Is Using Its Brick-And-Mortar Stores To Fight The E-Commerce Wars

Target is fighting the battle for delivery speed among retail giants on multiple fronts.

The Minnesota-based retail chain is halfway through the integration of personal shopper app Shipt, which it acquired in December for $550M, CNBC reports. The service connects customers with Shipt staffers roaming the aisles on their behalf who can inform shoppers when items are out of stock and when the items are en route from the store.

With Shipt and its new Drive Up service, wherein online orders can be picked up curbside, Target is well underway in rolling out multiple methods for customers to receive items the same day they order them online. Target expects both services to be present in virtually every market in time for the holiday season.

To facilitate the rollout, Target has spent large sums of money to renovate stores and add urban-format Target Express locations in several markets. The results so far have been mixed, as the number of Target shoppers rose 3.7% in the first quarter (a 10-year high), but profit margins shrank and stock prices dropped quarter to quarter, CNBC reports. Since the beginning of the year, however, Target's share prices have risen about 20% overall.

Shipt membership costs $99 per year, $20 less than Amazon Prime, which includes free two-day shipping. Its cost is in line with grocery apps such as Instacart, according to CNBC, and is on track to be available nationwide ahead of a similar service from Walmart. A third component of Target's e-commerce push, Target Restock, is comparable to Amazon Pantry in its weight-limited, daily-essentials shipping format.

By the end of the month, Target expects Shipt to be available in 135 markets for most product types, with all major product types becoming available next year.

Continue reading this story with a free account

Log in or register
Sign up for more articles like this
Subscribe to Bisnow's National Newsletters
Related Stories

Wall Street Impatient For Big Tech Returns On Data Center Spending

As AI Adoption Ramps Up, Half A Million Property Managers Are In The Crosshairs

Treasuries Hover Around 4.7% As Wall Street Questions If Warsh Is A 'Dove In Hawk's Clothing'

Avison Young Had Assets Frozen By Bank Over Unpaid Taxes

Philly Retail Momentum Spills From Rittenhouse Into Northern Liberties

Camden Property Trust Sells West Coast Portfolio, Clears $1.5B Target

Churchill Downs Plans To Sell 9 Casinos, Focus On Horse Racing

Bringing Stability And Savings To CRE Insurance Through Working Layer

More Hotel Owners In Need Of Cash Are Getting It From The Big Brands

Forget Buildings, Retailers Are Leasing Environments

Former Arms Dealer Targeting Heartland Apartment Takeover Files For Bankruptcy

SEC Charges REIT, Its Founders With Alleged $152M Fraud Scheme