Target Executive Summary

Target Corporation is an evolving company. Target has great expectations for its future. For the year 2015, Target aims to expand its experience in order to effectively alter their customer’s expectations and shopping behavior. Target’s industry outlook starts with opening fifteen new stores for the year. The strategic store growth plans focus on localization and customer experience. Target will establish new store formats such as TargetExpress and CityTarget, while also offering new experiences, merchandising layouts and innovations in its general merchandising stores. (Target.com) The retailer’s TargetExpress is the smallest store format at approximately 20,000 square feet and aims to provide customers with effective quick trip shopping experience.

Overall, Target performed well in this analysis across all topics, but lacking in service. Service was the only topic where Target received a grade of one and needs necessary improvement. Target could also improve upon the shopability of its products, as some displays were unorganized and spread across the active wear section of the store. Other than these two topics, however, Target seems to be doing well for itself in regards to selling active wear, especially since it has an entire section of the store dedicated solely to C9 Champion, its own private brand.

During that same year, Target makes a mark as a discount retailer transforming from a family run department store into a discount store chain providing affordable products and designs for all. Today, with their vision statement of expect more pay less, they still believe that great design doesn’t have to cost a fortune. They are focused on developing and delivering products that solve their guest’s everyday problems, make their lives more convenient, and simply make them smile (Design Innovation, 2016).

This paper discusses the company history of Target, evaluates Target’s internal strengths and weaknesses, and discusses external opportunities and threats. Additionally, the authors examine how the company functions to provide product to customers, and also elaborates on how the company interacts with their customers. Lastly, the authors evaluate the needs that Target serves its customers and assesses the criticality of the products provided.

To further support Target’s Ethics Disclosure, their managers took those same goals and analyzed their Annual Report. The responsibilities of a Target manager is to maintain comprehensive systems, to provide reasonable assurance and controlling cost based off of established procedures. The management statement reveals its importance to stay in alliance with The Board of Directors, but strives to come to an agreement to satisfy all

Target has a wide variety of clothes that appeal to a wide variety of people. The main segments of their targeted consumers are women, men, and children. The sub-segments in women’s clothing are active wear, youth, or maternity. Active wear are for women who are looking for comfortable clothes to workout in. Youth are for casual or business casual people to wear on a day to day basis. Maternity clothes are for women who are pregnant and looking for clothes that are bigger. Men sub-segments include active wear and casual wear. Both sub-segments serve the same purpose as the women’s. Children sub-segments include infant, toddler, and school uniforms. Infant are usually gender-neutral clothing for all babies. Toddler clothing are for kids around

Interface: The lay-out of Target.com and the mobile extension of the website as well as Target’s mobile app and its coupon app Cartwheel (currently under beta testing) need to be intuitively designed to allow for easy navigation, selecting and comparing products and making payments.

The first stock that I decided to buy and invest in was Apple. I did this because the brand is very popular and has a good reputation. The company has a very large following with all of their products. I, including most of my friends have Iphones and I decided to invest in something I actually use and can clearly see the impact the product has on the community. Watching the data in the graphs and my number, the increase of Apple’s market is evident due to certain outside factors.

With over 1,800 stores all sprinkled throughout the country, Target is one of the largest retail stores in the United States (Marshall, Solomon, Stuart, 2012). Throughout the years, Target has over gone various retail formatting changes which have allowed them to expand and offer grocery items while still offering their home goods, apparel, and baby products which they are known for. The main issues that are discussed in this case primarily deal with the functionality of the store as a whole.

One of the issues Target could face if it continues to only focus on private label store brands and do not promote national brands is losing a percentage of its customers. Although Target’s innovative amount of store brands on its aisles has proven successfully for the retailer and consumers have shown a positive reception to the products, there are still a number of customers who are accustomed to

Target Corporation has some new imminent threats on its horizon. Its challenge continues to be the problem of competing with Wal-Mart, Costco, and other huger retailers that are front runners. In order to decrease the risk posed to revenues by internal rivalry in the discount retailing industry. The key issues: growth and differentiation.

Prashanth, I agree with your assessment, your first 4 months with Target have been very successful. You joined the RFID team late last year. Immediately after that, you started working on the design and architecture of the new RFID application. Being a lead engineer on the team, you played a very critical role in the various design decisions and technology evaluations. With your understanding of the product and an eye on overall Target Technology standards, you have been a voice of restraints and thoroughness. All the while, you have insisted on high standards during the design and development process. Furthermore, you have shown eagerness to contribute outside of your direct team, this is an extremely important trait for a lead engineer to grow and expand his area of expertise and influence. Lastly, you are a team player and have helped new hires and team mates to grow and perform to their fullest potential.

Restructuring the layout of the home decor sections of Target stores will allow guests to get a better visual image of how the items may look in their own home and in turn lead to more sales. It is much easier to visualize how an item will look when it is set up in a display as opposed to just sitting on a shelf. The combination of all Target apps into one will put the company on par with some of their top competitors as well as increase

The first plan would be to develop a rewards program, but with a unique twist. Escalateretail.com (n.d., as cited in Ha & Stoel 2014) suggests that if a company’s rewards program is better then it could influence customers to switch and shop at that store. Most rewards programs have limitations, but I believe if the limitations were reduced more customers would sign up for the program and shop at the store or online. Some of these limitations I would make recommendations to reduce limitations on would be to remove or extend the expiration of rewards, remove or extend the cap on rewards, and remove or extend the product lines rewards can be used on. I would then make recommendations on how to organize the company’s resources to make this program possible. There will need to be programs and

In a world where we can find identical merchandise in more than one store, layout and presentation become key differentiating factors.