Target focuses on in-person experience at cost of online order fulfillment

Target is revising a strategy to fulfill almost all digital orders from its stores part of the incoming CEO s strategy to improve in-store experiences for shoppers For nearly a decade the Minneapolis-based retailer has built stores around the ability to pack and ship digital orders alongside in-store purchases That includes online orders for local pick-up as well as deliveries The product has been a major boost in digital sales but sometimes at the expense of on-shelf availability and worker strain You re juggling that digital business progress and working every day to maintain a great in-store experience Chief Operating Officer Michael Fiddelke advised analysts on a conference call earlier this week And you ve heard me say from the start of the year bringing more consistency to that in-store experience is a key priority of ours Target s earnings overview this week included this digital re-orienting as well as the announcement Fiddelke would become CEO when Brian Cornell actions down in February Target first tested the online pullback at a limited stores in Chicago this year Now it plans to stop fulfilling online orders with in-store inventory and staff members at stores in to more markets also this year Fiddelke declared We might say Literally shut your pack station down and sit this one out because that allows you to focus exclusively on the drive-up business he revealed Or importantly the in-store experience in a store The company didn t directly specify Friday which additional stores would see the digital fulfillment change Since Target has built a stores as hubs business model that reduces the need for an expensive configuration of warehouses That has kept costs low and boosted profits for digital sales Fiddelke reported as the company constructed or remodeled stores with the digital hub in mind Several stores are built to fulfill Fiddelke revealed They ve got a big back room We can put a lot of pack stations in the back They ve got a manageable level of an in-store business and they can assistance that digital demand in a field super well That has apparently not been the event at every location Target is keen to revive its brand proposition and excite its customers about the shopping experience as its sales continue to decline And as competitor Walmart continues to lure more higher-income consumers alongside its usual budget-conscious crowd Changing how we focus our store teams can help us make progress on a bunch of fronts Fiddelke announced Originally published in The Minnesota Star Tribune