Target Corporation - Digital transformation strategies

This report provides insight into Target's tech activities, including its digital transformation strategies, its innovation programs, its technology initiatives, its estimated ICT budget, and its major ICT contracts.

Target Corp (Target) is a retailer of general merchandise and food products. The company’s product portfolio comprises baby and beauty products, clothing, electronic equipment, furniture, grocery, home and pet products, school and office supplies, shoes, sports and outdoor products, toys, and sports equipment. Target also offers optical, clinics and other amenities, home delivery, photo printing service, rewards, and gift card services. The company leases certain retail stores, warehouses, office space, distribution centers, land, and equipment.

In 2014, Target launched the Target Accelerator Program India. The accelerator program focuses on bringing innovative technology startups on-board and mentor them in developing retail-oriented products and solutions focused on areas including artificial intelligence, machine learning, computer vision, natural language processing, analytics, and digital experiences, in collaboration with Target business leaders.

Target Technology Accelerator focuses on mentoring established startups with a tech-driven retail solution. The four-month program offers Target’s worldwide network of experts with a chance to collaborate with fellow entrepreneurs, subject-matter-experts, and mentors, and eventually provides a chance to participate in a final capstone event.

Scope

• Target is focusing on driving sales from digital channels, for instance, it has been striving to develop a digital assistant for its mobile application, which provides recommendations to customers based on their search patterns and purchase history. The retailer has already been leveraging customer data analytics to predict potential requirements of customers, and for regular shoppers it analyzes shopping pattern to predict various scenarios and recommend products to that customer.
• Target is focusing on empowering its in-store employees with digital tools to serve customers effectively, ensuring customer demand is met. The retailer has equipped employees with digital tools to search store inventory, eliminating hustle to physically scan storage room for available fits or color, and solutions to accept payment from a mobile point-of-sale (POS) system and arrange delivery.
• Target is relying on technology to replenish its stores’ inventory. It has been developing and testing robotic solutions to precisely sort on an aisle-by-aisle basis to ease in-store team to fill shelves quickly while reducing backroom inventory. The retailer has also been working on open source blockchain project, ConsenSource, to track its supply chain efficiently.

Reasons to Buy

• Gain insights into Target's tech operations.
• Gain insights into its tech strategies and innovation initiatives.
• Gain insights into its technology themes under focus.
• Gain insights into various product launches, partnerships, investments, and acquisition strategies.