October 25, 2013
Target Takes Own Path to Ship-to-Store
There’s nothing particularly different in Target rolling out the option of letting consumers order goods online and then pick them up in stores. Walmart and various other competitors are doing the same. What makes Target’s rollout interesting, from my vantage point, is that it has done it so close to the Christmas selling season and has thrown in a blackout period during one of the busiest weeks to protect itself from snafus.
As explained on its A Bullseye View site, Target launched store pickup earlier this month with roughly two-thirds of its locations now participating. The plan is for the full national rollout to be completed by Nov. 1. Some products such as groceries and items exclusive to Target.com will not be eligible for online ordering and in-store pickup. The company also said the service will not be available during Thanksgiving week (Nov. 24 – 30).
In an open admission that the chain may not have all the bugs worked out, Target writes, "We expect to learn a lot as guests begin to use this service, so we’ll listen to feedback and make tweaks along the way. Guests will have opportunities to take short surveys about their experience, and are always encouraged to fill out a feedback form on Target.com."
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Discussion Questions
What do you think of Target’s approach to rolling out its in-store pickup program? Will offering this option boost Target.com’s business?
Poll
I think Target has more to gain here than to lose. I also think they are smart to be cautious about implementing a new system in the busiest and most important time of their sales calendar and not offering the service during Thanksgiving week. Perhaps they are taking notes of the ACA website launch and are sensitive to all the things that could go wrong when you are trying to make a “first impression” with a new service.
As usual, Target is a day late and a dollar short to the digital revolution. It’s great that they are offering online ordering with in-store pickup, but don’t launch it during the holiday season. That’s asking for trouble. And don’t tell consumers that you expect to learn a lot as guests begin to use the service – that’s what January through September are for. When it comes to the digital world, Target seems determined to practice the “Ready, Fire, Aim” theory of e-tailing.
While I love Target’s candor about its almost-there status, there isn’t an IT person around who wants to roll out something new during the holidays. Oh, and given the fact that Santa appeared in one of the commercials I watched this morning, the holidays are here, way before Halloween.
As with Walmart, there are items on their site, but not at all stores. This option gives the consumer the choice. I have recently used both options with Walmart. Both worked successfully. There is no downside; it is a great approach.
Their comments as stated are perfect: “We expect to learn a lot as guests begin to use this service, so we’ll listen to feedback and make tweaks along the way. Guests will have opportunities to take short surveys about their experience, and are always encouraged to fill out a feedback form on Target.com.”
Now that they have said it, will they listen, change, and improve as they go? We’ll see. They are looking to the right place for the opportunity to do so – their customer!
I am a fan of ship-to-store if the process is convenient and customer friendly. Target is late to the game in general, and lags in grocery as well as fresh. This is something that will become more critical as Amazon and others expand their footprints.
Also, not sure of the rationale behind the statement that items exclusive to Target.com will not be eligible for online ordering and in-store pickup. Why exclude these products? Plus, the “blackout” is code for “expect problems.” Design it, test it, fix it and roll it.
This is an omni-channel opportunity for Target. It is not about channels. It is about your customers and how they seamlessly and conveniently interact with you and access your products and services.
The approach seems sensible. I think the challenge is in the execution and communication of it; in particular making sure that customer expectations are effectively managed.
Generally, I see “collect” options and being valuable for most retailers if they can execute well.
While it would have been better to have all the kinks worked out before holiday, at least they are managing expectations with their customers that this is a work in progress, so I like their approach. This is pretty typical of how software companies operate, which is to release a capability before it’s fully baked and get customer feedback.
As a result, this helps move Target’s omni-channel retailing efforts forward sooner rather than later, enables some stress testing of this capability which they wouldn’t really get from January – September, while at the same time setting expectations with their customers that this is still a work in process so they are taking some steps to minimize issues. All in all, a pretty grown up approach.
I recently completed a research effort on some of the omni-channel retailing capabilities of the top 100 US retailers using a list from Stores.org, and < 1/3 of the retailers on the list do a really solid job of enabling buying online, picking up in store (BOPIS), so while not at the bleeding edge, Target is still at forefront of this movement.
Target may not be leading the pack with order-online-pickup-in-store (OOPS) but it needs to begin somewhere to stay abreast of customer expectations. It’s harder to introduce this at a large scale, and Target knows the bulls-eye will be on its back.
As ever, the online sale is easy but the fulfillment is hard. Store pickup is a service standard that is simple to say but complex to perform. For most shoppers, this initial version will probably feel like a solution searching for a reason – until the full online assortment can be made available in version 2.0.
I applaud Target for their transparency and realism on this. They’re rolling out a service they think will be valuable to their customers, but they are being realistic about managing initial expectations. It makes it clear they are doing this for their customers and not for PR value or to please Wall Street.
Nothing new with this service. So many brick and mortar retailers with an online presence have been doing it, I’m surprised that Target hasn’t been doing it already. No doubt it makes doing business with Target easier. Next step will be the same-day delivery.
Interesting that Target refers to their customers as “guests.” I think that’s a nice touch!
Richard George nailed this one spot-on. Be sure you’ve got it right, guys! Yes, the Christmas season is tempting, but it’s so busy and hectic that glitches are far more likely to happen (duh!). The first impression is a lasting one. The Obamacare website fiasco will be remembered forever. Come on, Target. Wait just a little longer and try it out/tweak it at a slower time of the year.
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I think Target has more to gain here than to lose. I also think they are smart to be cautious about implementing a new system in the busiest and most important time of their sales calendar and not offering the service during Thanksgiving week. Perhaps they are taking notes of the ACA website launch and are sensitive to all the things that could go wrong when you are trying to make a “first impression” with a new service.
As usual, Target is a day late and a dollar short to the digital revolution. It’s great that they are offering online ordering with in-store pickup, but don’t launch it during the holiday season. That’s asking for trouble. And don’t tell consumers that you expect to learn a lot as guests begin to use the service – that’s what January through September are for. When it comes to the digital world, Target seems determined to practice the “Ready, Fire, Aim” theory of e-tailing.
While I love Target’s candor about its almost-there status, there isn’t an IT person around who wants to roll out something new during the holidays. Oh, and given the fact that Santa appeared in one of the commercials I watched this morning, the holidays are here, way before Halloween.
As with Walmart, there are items on their site, but not at all stores. This option gives the consumer the choice. I have recently used both options with Walmart. Both worked successfully. There is no downside; it is a great approach.
Their comments as stated are perfect: “We expect to learn a lot as guests begin to use this service, so we’ll listen to feedback and make tweaks along the way. Guests will have opportunities to take short surveys about their experience, and are always encouraged to fill out a feedback form on Target.com.”
Now that they have said it, will they listen, change, and improve as they go? We’ll see. They are looking to the right place for the opportunity to do so – their customer!
I am a fan of ship-to-store if the process is convenient and customer friendly. Target is late to the game in general, and lags in grocery as well as fresh. This is something that will become more critical as Amazon and others expand their footprints.
Also, not sure of the rationale behind the statement that items exclusive to Target.com will not be eligible for online ordering and in-store pickup. Why exclude these products? Plus, the “blackout” is code for “expect problems.” Design it, test it, fix it and roll it.
This is an omni-channel opportunity for Target. It is not about channels. It is about your customers and how they seamlessly and conveniently interact with you and access your products and services.
The approach seems sensible. I think the challenge is in the execution and communication of it; in particular making sure that customer expectations are effectively managed.
Generally, I see “collect” options and being valuable for most retailers if they can execute well.
While it would have been better to have all the kinks worked out before holiday, at least they are managing expectations with their customers that this is a work in progress, so I like their approach. This is pretty typical of how software companies operate, which is to release a capability before it’s fully baked and get customer feedback.
As a result, this helps move Target’s omni-channel retailing efforts forward sooner rather than later, enables some stress testing of this capability which they wouldn’t really get from January – September, while at the same time setting expectations with their customers that this is still a work in process so they are taking some steps to minimize issues. All in all, a pretty grown up approach.
I recently completed a research effort on some of the omni-channel retailing capabilities of the top 100 US retailers using a list from Stores.org, and < 1/3 of the retailers on the list do a really solid job of enabling buying online, picking up in store (BOPIS), so while not at the bleeding edge, Target is still at forefront of this movement.
Target may not be leading the pack with order-online-pickup-in-store (OOPS) but it needs to begin somewhere to stay abreast of customer expectations. It’s harder to introduce this at a large scale, and Target knows the bulls-eye will be on its back.
As ever, the online sale is easy but the fulfillment is hard. Store pickup is a service standard that is simple to say but complex to perform. For most shoppers, this initial version will probably feel like a solution searching for a reason – until the full online assortment can be made available in version 2.0.
I applaud Target for their transparency and realism on this. They’re rolling out a service they think will be valuable to their customers, but they are being realistic about managing initial expectations. It makes it clear they are doing this for their customers and not for PR value or to please Wall Street.
Nothing new with this service. So many brick and mortar retailers with an online presence have been doing it, I’m surprised that Target hasn’t been doing it already. No doubt it makes doing business with Target easier. Next step will be the same-day delivery.
Interesting that Target refers to their customers as “guests.” I think that’s a nice touch!
Richard George nailed this one spot-on. Be sure you’ve got it right, guys! Yes, the Christmas season is tempting, but it’s so busy and hectic that glitches are far more likely to happen (duh!). The first impression is a lasting one. The Obamacare website fiasco will be remembered forever. Come on, Target. Wait just a little longer and try it out/tweak it at a slower time of the year.