Target’s Holiday Fulfillment Updates
Target has made enhancements to its pickup and delivery fulfillment services ahead of the holidays to offer more flexibility to shoppers.
[See more: 3 Ways Target Is Improving Drive Up]
Forgot Something is one of the several new features available through Drive Up and Order Pickup, both same-day services at Target. It allows for shoppers to easily order more items after a Drive Up or Order Pickup order has been placed in the Target app and pick everything up at once.
Target has also added a Backup Items feature, so shoppers can designate a secondary, backup item option for food and beverage pickup (excluding adult beverage items). A new Shopping Partner feature lets shoppers send someone else, such as a friend or family member, to pick up their Drive Up or Order Pickup order through the Target app or on Target.com.
[See more: The Future State of BOPIS and Curbside Pickup]
Target has also added more than 18,000 assigned spaces for curbside pickup ahead of the busiest time of year, it said. COO John Mulligan noted earlier this year that Target was working on adding canopies to help with the weather and had added numbered parking lots “so that we can find your black SUV among the 12 black SUVs that sit out in our parking lot waiting for Drive Up at any given time.”
Mulligan also said at the time that Target would like to add things like clearance items and the ability to do returns.
Additionally, Target has expanded its assortment available for Same-Day Delivery with Shipt. The expansion includes more items in apparel and accessories, premium Ulta Beauty products, electronics, toys and a new this category this year — adult beverage items. Target has also added more stores in the Shipt network and the ability to select what store a shopper shops at.
The retailer reports it has tripled the number of store fulfillment expert roles over the past two years to better support Drive Up and Order Pickup services. In response to demand and to create new opportunities for the team, all new store team members will be backup trained in same-day fulfillment. Target has also added experts across the store, it said, with thousands of associates completing enhanced training within its shop-in-shop collaborations, beauty, tech, food and beverage and more.
[See more: Target’s Holiday Plan Centers on Existing Workers]
“Our guests love the convenience of our same-day services, and we’ve seen tremendous growth in these offerings over the past year, driven by continued investments in our amazing team members and our stores," Mark Schindele, chief stores officer, said in a press release. “As we prepare for the busy holiday season, guests can count on our team to deliver the incredible service and expertise they’ve come to expect, helping make sure they get everything they need to bring joy for the holidays.”
