Target bullseye focused on evolving two offerings

MINNEAPOLIS — Target chairman and CEO Brian Cornell on Wednesday outlined why he's bullish on Target's future: The company is executing against a comprehensive digital offering that will soon deliver two- or three-day shipping to shoppers within striking distance of more than 450 locations and Target is fine-tuning a food product mix designed to resonate with guests. Target is striving to become a leader in digital, Cornell said.

 

“This is critically important because research shows digital relevance drives traffic and engagement across all selling channels,” he told analysts Wednesday morning. 

 

Today, Target is shipping from 140 store locations and plans to expand that shipping capacity to more than 450 stores by year's end. “Ship-from-store capabilities allows us to balance inventory across the network, leverage the capital and labor already in our stores and reach guests more quickly,” he said. 

 

Target will begin testing an available-to-promise solution this fall in which it will offer guests a specific delivery date commitment based on current inventory allocation. “We believe this capability will drive further increases in digital conversion rates, which are already improving rapidly as guests respond to a faster and firmer delivery commitment,” Cornell said.

 

Second on Target's to-do list is evolving category roles.

 

“Beyond our efforts on signature categories, we're also focused on testing and learning how we can reposition our food offering to better serve our guests,”Cornell said. "Through guest research we already know we need to be more clearly highlighting wellness in our food offering, through both assortment and the information we provide,” he said. “We know we have the opportunity to provide fresh, healthy options and more relevant localized assortment ... within food, our marketshare in wellness is already double our food share overall.”