In Minneapolis, the Star Tribune reports that Target’s new curbside pickup service now has gone live in 50 stores in the Twin Cities market: “Customers who want to use it place online orders through Target's app, click a button when they are on their way to the store, park at a designated parking spot and then employees bring the items out to their car.”
The service was tested by headquarters employees this summer at three area stores.
The story continues: “The service is one of the latest ways that brick-and-mortar retailers are trying to fight off Amazon and stay relevant as consumers are increasingly accustomed to having online orders show up on their doorsteps within hours. Like in-store pickup, curbside pickup also is a more profitable way for retailers to fulfill online orders since customers make the trip to the stores to fetch their orders instead of having to pay for the extra costs of shipping them to people's doorsteps.”
The service was tested by headquarters employees this summer at three area stores.
The story continues: “The service is one of the latest ways that brick-and-mortar retailers are trying to fight off Amazon and stay relevant as consumers are increasingly accustomed to having online orders show up on their doorsteps within hours. Like in-store pickup, curbside pickup also is a more profitable way for retailers to fulfill online orders since customers make the trip to the stores to fetch their orders instead of having to pay for the extra costs of shipping them to people's doorsteps.”
- KC's View:
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A good idea, though I’m not sure it is the kind of gamer-changer that Target needs to really break through all the retail clutter. It is a stopgap measure, but not really disruptive.
