CNBC reports that Target "is adding 750 fresh and frozen items, such as fruits, vegetables and meat, to same-day order pickup and drive up services.
"The retailer will offer the expanded assortment at over 400 stores by the end of the month and more than 1,500 stores by the holidays.
"Target had already planned to add the items to same-day services this year, but that effort has taken on new urgency as grocery becomes a crucial sales driver and customers look for safer ways to shop."
Target COO John Mulligan says that this offering has “become even more critical for our guests searching for easy and safe ways to shop during the pandemic … During a time when even more people are looking for different ways to get the items they need, we’ll continue to invest in making Target the easiest and safest place to shop."
- KC's View:
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It is just like what Tom Furphy has said here in The Innovation Conversation … the pandemic hasn't so much changed thing as it has accelerated events and developments that were going to happen anyway.
This is just another example of that.
Here's one telling passage from the CNBC story: "In just three months, customers picked up more units through the retailer’s drive up service than in all of 2019. Target had weeks in April when its drive up volume was seven times higher than normal and single days when the volume of order pickup in stores was twice as high as Cyber Monday."
I think there are three questions that need to be asked:
• How are these changed reflected in Target's store fleet and plans for future development?
• What does Target do next so it can successfully maintain and even grow these sales?
• What is the next innovation that demonstrates not just acceleration of the inevitable, but some sort of new insight into what customers need and want?
