TikTok is looking to expand beyond just social media, introducing TikTok Resumes as a way to apply for jobs.
TikTok is one of the most popular, and most controversial, social media platforms. While it has a user base and growth rate to make other platforms green with envy, the company continues to faceprivacy abuse allegations and has been on the receiving end of a campaign by the previous administration to ban the platform.
None of those challenges are stopping the company from expanding into the job market, with the unveiling of TikTok Resumes.
“We’re excited to launch ‘TikTok Resumes’ as a pilot program designed to continue expanding and enhancing TikTok as a new channel for recruitment and job discovery,” reads the company’s blog. “We’re teaming up with select companies and inviting job seekers to apply for entry-level to experienced positions with some of the world’s most sought-after employers, including Chipotle, Target, WWE, Alo Yoga, Shopify, Contra, Movers+Shakers, and many more, with a TikTok video resume. Interested candidates are encouraged to creatively and authentically showcase their skillsets and experiences, and use #TikTokResumes in their caption when publishing their video resume to TikTok.”
While many users may be reluctant to trust the platform with something as important as their job prospects, it appears the fledgling service already has an impressive array of companies onboard.
“Our digital performance was up 50 percent,” says Target CEO Brian Cornell. “As we gain greater clarity around the consumer, the economy, the state of the vaccine, we feel that the consumer continues to respond to our in-store experience and the ease and convenience of shopping with some of our same-day services like pickup, drive-up, and ship. Same-day fulfillment services now represent over half of our digital channel.”
Brian Cornell, CEO of Target, discusses their massive Q1 results in an interview on CNBC:
Digital Performance Up 50 Percent
We’ve had a string of really solid results going back to 2017 but this quarter may be one of the highlights. Our team executed throughout the quarter. We had a great performance from our store teams with a store comp of 18%. Our digital performance was up 50%. It was really a team effort. We had great supply chain support with our merchants and marketers all coming together to support the results which speak for themselves.
We are benefitting from investments we’ve been making for years now. Our investment in our store experience, our curated Home Brand and national brand mix, and then the fulfillment services that we offer. That combined with the investment in our team, I think we are seeing continued strength. We feel really good sitting here right now about our outlook, not just for the second quarter but for the full year.
We’ve Connected With The Consumer
As we gain greater clarity around the consumer, the economy, the state of the vaccine, we feel that the consumer continues to respond to our in-store experience and the ease and convenience of shopping with some of our same-day services like pickup, drive-up, and ship. They really connect with our curation of Great Home Brand, national brands, and the service our team provides each and every day.
We are feeling very confident about our position today. I look at the proof point from Q1, we picked up another billion dollars in market share on top of the $9 billion of share last year. That’s just a sign that we’ve connected with the consumer, we’re building relevance, and we’re providing what they need and what they want throughout the year.
Newness Is A Huge Trend In Our Business
When you see the combination of stores comping up at 18%, which to me is just a highlight number, and categories like apparel growing again by over 60%, that combination of store traffic and category mix really benefited us throughout the quarter. We are seeing a resilient consumer. They’re clearly shopping our stores and when they’re there they are attracted to anything that’s new.
Newness has certainly been a trend throughout our business in the first quarter and I think that’s going to continue. That great combination of store traffic and store comps and the continued movement of same-day fulfillment services which now represent over half of our digital channel. We really like that transaction. It looks and feels more like a store transaction which from a profitability standpoint certainly is beneficial for us.
Target CEO Brian Cornell Says Digital Performance Up 50%
Some of the biggest retailers are using artificial intelligence (AI) to help dictate their return policies.
For many consumers, once they return an item they never give it another thought. For retailers, however, returns can represent a significant loss. There are a number of factors that can make it even worse, such as the size of item, shipping and shelf life.
Walmart, Target and Amazon are turning to AI to help them optimize their return process. According to The Wall Street Journal, the retailers are using AI to determine when it is worth processing a return, versus letting the customer keep the product and issuing them a refund instead.
Lorie Anderson of Vancouver, WA, tried to return makeup to Target, as well as batteries to Walmart. In both cases, the retailers told her to keep the items and still issued a refund.
“They were inexpensive, and it wouldn’t make much financial sense to return them by mail,” Ms. Anderson, 38 years old, said. “It’s a hassle to pack up the box and drop it at the post office or UPS. This was one less thing I had to worry about.”
Target even encourages customers to donate items they receive a refund for.
AI has been making its way into a wide range of industries. This is merely the latest example of how it can be used to help companies make better decisions.
“What we’re really seeing here is the integration of bricks and clicks,” says Cohen retail analyst Oliver Chen. “Target really hit the bull’s eye on their numbers. What stood out really was 195 percent ecommerce growth and using stores as hubs or fulfillment centers, particularly drive-up curbside pickup and reinventing the purpose of the store to integrate the whole shopping journey. As retail continues to evolve this whole fulfillment and stores plus digital will continue to be a huge theme.”
What We’re Seeing Is the Integration of Bricks and Clicks
What we’re really seeing here is the integration of bricks and clicks. Target really hit the bull’s eye on their numbers. What stood out really was 195 percent ecommerce growth and using stores as hubs or fulfillment centers, particularly drive-up curbside pickup and reinventing the purpose of the store to integrate the whole shopping journey. What’s happening is that America really values convenience and Target’s done a great job being America’s easiest place to shop.
Thinking about physical, mix with digital and instant gratification, same-day fulfillment has been a big deal. Customers want it all. They want physical, they want digital, they want groceries and hard lines. We’re also seeing this at-home revolution with home electronics doing really well too. These are all key themes. As retail continues to evolve this whole fulfillment and stores plus digital will continue to be a huge theme.
Ecommerce Is No Longer a Bad Word
The key is that ecommerce is no longer a bad word. If you think back a couple of years ago if you mentioned ecommerce the idea was to short all retail. It took some of these retailers a while to understand the investments in technology that needed to be made. But they’ve done it using the stores as assets instead of liabilities.
Again, if you go back maybe five years ago the idea was if you had a store you’re in trouble. These companies through their technology investments have really proven that’s not the case. I do believe that investing in technology to drive your sales and your earnings is certainly the right thing to do for these companies.
What We’re Really Seeing Is the Integration of Bricks and Clicks
“In the most challenging operating environment I’ve ever seen for this team to deliver the strongest comps in our 50 year history is pretty incredible,” says Target CEO Brian Cornell. “This is in an environment where so many Americans are avoiding shopping in physical stores, our store comps were still up almost 11 percent. The investments we made in our team and in creating a safe shopping environment has built trust with the consumer. Certainly, our digital growth is industry leading at almost 200 percent.”
“Our second quarter comparable sales growth of 24.3 percent is the strongest we have ever reported, which is a true testament to the resilience of our team and the durability of our business model,” said Cornell. “Our stores were the key to this unprecedented growth, with in-store comp sales growing 10.9 percent and stores enabling more than three-quarters of Target’s digital sales, which rose nearly 200 percent.”
“We also generated outstanding profitability in the quarter, even as we made significant investments in pay and benefits for our team,” noted Target’s CEO. “We remain steadfast in our focus on investing in a safe and convenient shopping experience for our guests, and their trust has resulted in market share gains of $5 billion in the first six months of the year.”
The Company had comparable stores sales growth of 10.9 percent and digital sales growth of 195 percent. Total revenue of $23.0 billion grew 24.7 percent compared with last year, reflecting sales growth of 24.8 percent and a 16.6 percent increase in other revenue. Operating income was $2.3 billion in second quarter 2020, up 73.8 percent from $1.3 billion in 2019.
Target Delivers Strongest Comps In 50 Year History
I’ve been with Target now going on seven years. Obviously, this is a special moment for the team. It is a beautiful morning here in Minnesota. I’ve got to start by really recognizing our team. In the most challenging operating environment I’ve ever seen for this team to deliver the strongest comps in our 50 year history is pretty incredible. Our EPS was also a record high up over 80 percent. So to the 350,000 team members in the U.S. and in offices around the world these results were all about you.
We continue to see strength across our entire portfolio. The strength that we saw in the second quarter, which we will break down in our earnings call later today, the fact that we saw really consistent strength from May into June and July. May was the strongest month with comps over 30 percent. But in both June and July we saw comps over 20 percent. That strength has continued in August and we are seeing low to mid-teen growth.
Being Agile and Flexible Is Key To Our Success
The biggest adjustment is probably the consumer who is still waiting for a signal around back to school. As you might imagine uniforms, backpacks, and school supplies are a little slower than last year. But the overall momentum and growth in market share continues as we go into the third quarter. The key to our success when I think about the second quarter is one, we’ve been true to our strategy, but our team has really focused on being agile and flexible and adjusting to the current operating environment. We’ve been changing the playbook every week.
As we think about back to school as I’m sitting here today there are 56 million K-12 students that are waiting for direction. As of this week 66 percent of students will start remotely. They don’t know if they are going back into a classroom in September, October or if it’s going to happen in January. So we are going to have to extend the back to school season and make sure that we’ve got the items they need throughout the fall. We can adjust by market. We’ve got to be flexible and adaptable. That’s really been the key to our success so far this year in both the first and the second quarter.
Digital Growth Is Industry Leading – Up 200%
If you look at our results in the second quarter overall comps were up 24.3 percent. These are some of the strongest in retail. Our store performance is really for me a standout and probably one of the biggest surprises. This is in an environment where so many Americans are avoiding shopping in physical stores, our store comps were still up almost 11 percent. The investments we made in our team and in creating a safe shopping environment has built trust with the consumer. Certainly, our digital growth is industry leading at almost 200 percent.
We’ve been taking share on a broad based basis from both specialty and department stores but also some of our traditional competitors including club. Category by category we’re gaining share. In categories like food and beverage and household essentials we were up 20 percent during the quarter. As Americans have been working and learning from home we’ve seen categories like electronics grow by 70 percent in the quarter. We’ve picked up significant market share from our electronic competitors. Our business and home categories were up over 30 percent.
We Are Seeing Significant Market Share Gains
Categories like decor, categories like domestics, what we are seeing with kitchen ware, we are continuing to build momentum and market share. We also saw a big rebound in apparel which was down almost 20 percent in the first quarter. It grew in the low teens in the second quarter. We are seeing significant market share gains. Across our business we are picking up share from our competitors whether they are specialty players, department stores, or our traditional retail competitors.
The market share number of $5 billion is the most important number on the print. It just shows the relevance of our brand, the momentum, and the trust we are building with American consumers.
Target CEO Brian Cornell: Digital Growth Is Industry Leading – Up 200%
“I’ve been watching Walmart since 1968, they only came into existence in 62, they’ve done the same thing to the rest of retail,” says Jan Kniffen of J. Rogers Kniffen Worldwide. “They kept making a new step every time and the rest of retail had to follow and they won the game, they got all the market share. They can’t let Amazon out Walmart Walmart (when it comes to free one-day shipping). Walmart will fight this battle to the bitter end.”
Jan Kniffen, CEO of J Rogers Kniffen World Wide, discusses Walmart’s likely reaction to Amazon’s free one-day shipping announcement in an interview on CNBC:
Walmart Tweets One-Day Free Shipping…Without a Membership Fee
Walmart is going to get to same-day delivery and so is Amazon. They’re just making the steps down. I would have come out with that tweet because they can say we’ll give it to you maybe same-day and no membership fee. They’ve been tit for tat for with Amazon right along. I think that Walmart with its 4,500 stores that are many distribution centers can keep up with Amazon on delivery. Can anybody else? Maybe not, but those two certainly can.
One-day free shipping…without a membership fee. Now THAT would be groundbreaking. Stay tuned.
Walmart can do same day and they should do it. The real question is what’s the cost to them to do this and what’s the cost to Amazon? They’ve already told us, it’s hundreds of millions of dollars. But what’s the cost to everyone else? Because market shares are what it costs everyone else. Walmart’s got to do this if Amazon does. They can’t give Amazon market share just because their deliveries are not as fast. But can anyone else keep up and pay the price that it takes to be able to do it? It’s really hard to imagine other people can. Amazon and Walmart both can.
Walmart Can’t Let Amazon Out Walmart Walmart
If you’re the investor I’m sure you’re going I don’t want this to happen. If you’re Walmart you’re saying I don’t really have a choice if Amazon does this I have to be competitive. Amazon caused Walmart or Walmart’s competitive nature caused it to spend a fortune over these last five years to be competitive with Amazon. When Doug (McMillon) came out and talked about it the stock went down a lot. Now it’s all come back and it’s all paid off and Walmart’s winning the game versus all of the other retailers. They’ve got to continue to do that.
I’ve been watching Walmart since 1968, they only came into existence in 62, they’ve done the same thing to the rest of retail. They kept making a new step every time and the rest of retail had to follow and they won the game, they got all the market share. They can’t let Amazon out Walmart Walmart. Walmart will fight this battle to the bitter end. The question is do you still want to own the stock? My answer is yes you do just like you still want to own Amazon stock. These two win the game.
Target is the Third Man Out in This Three-Horse Race
I’m not pushing Target. I think Target is the third man out in this three-horse race. Target has done a great job. They’re a much better retailer than they were three or four years ago. They were the best retailer in the country in 2006. Now we’ve reached the point where it is sort of a three horse race and I just don’t see how they continue to win the game.
I understand the call (by Barclays) and they are doing a much better job in apparel than they’ve done in years. But they’ve still got to fight this battle on things like same-day delivery with Walmart and Amazon. I don’t see how they win.
“We dropped back several years ago and started thinking about building the Target of the future,” says Target CEO Brian Cornell. “It really started with an investment in understanding the consumer and really understanding what they were looking for and how to build the capabilities starting with data science to really guide us through that journey. Whether that’s technology or supply chain capabilities, product design, or our focus on execution at the store level, data and analytics have been important guideposts for us as we’ve gone through this journey.”
Brian Cornell, CEO of Target, discusses the details of how the company is building the Target of the future in an interview at the Stanford Graduate School of Business:
Reimagining Stores and Investment in Technology is Paying Off
Target’s (current success) is really a combination of a number of things that we’ve been working on for several years now. If I go back to February of 2017 we laid out a three-year vision for the company. We said we’re going to invest billions of dollars. At that point, I said $7 billion dollars over a three year period to invest in reimagining our stores, in building new smaller stores and urban centers and on college campuses, reinvest in our brands, invest in technology and fulfillment capabilities, and make a big investment in our people.
The success we’re seeing right now is really a combination of all those elements starting to mature. We’re executing at scale and they’re all starting to work together. That’s driving for us great top-line growth, market share gains, and importantly more traffic in our stores and visits to our site.
In Most Cases Shopping Starts With the Mobile Phone
I actually think blend (of digital and physical) is the right term. I think from a consumer standpoint they’ve really lost sight of whether they’re shopping in a physical environment or a digital environment. In most cases, their shopping starts with that mobile phone in their hands, that digital device. It’s how they decide where they’re going to shop and what they’re looking for. If you went to one of our Target stores this afternoon I guarantee you we’d find consumers with a phone in their hand, they’d be looking at their latest Pinterest, they’d be checking things on their favorite digital site, and they’d have their shopping list there.
That device really guides them through the shopping experience. I think more and more there’s a blurring and a blending that’s taking place and it’s a combination of both. The consumer today is enjoying the fact that shopping has become really easy. They get the best of both. They get a physical experience when they want it and if they don’t have time they can shop from their desk or from their classroom. They’re constantly in touch and we’ve made it really easy now for them to interface with our brand on their own terms.
Building the Target of the Future
We dropped back several years ago and started thinking about building the Target of the future. It really started with an investment in understanding the consumer and really understanding what they were looking for and how to build the capabilities starting with data science to really guide us through that journey. I can talk a lot about strategy, but the other thing that we’ve recognized is how important it is to have the right capabilities in place. Whether that’s technology or supply chain capabilities, product design, or our focus on execution at the store level, data and analytics have been important guideposts for us as we’ve gone through this journey.
We’ve been fortunate in that we’ve recruited quite a few Stanford grads. I think what’s attracting them to our business is the richness of our data. The fact that on an average week we get 30 million consumers shopping our stores and a similar number going to Target.com. We have all this rich data and we understand where consumers are shopping, what they’re looking for, and I think they’ve been really intrigued by the ability to take that data and help us build a future.
The Consumer is Looking For a Unique Personalized Experience
I’ve certainly seen this trend towards personalization and localization. If I think about the changes in consumer packaged goods, in some cases those big brands that you and I grew up with, well they’ve been replaced by smaller local niche brands that we didn’t see when we grew up and they’re being regionalized across the country. I think the consumer today is looking for that unique personalized experience, whether they’re shopping a Target store or they’re walking through a local store right here on the Stanford campus.
I think I walked in recognizing the importance of a clear strategy for an organization. But I’ve come to realize just how important culture is, a clear purpose, and importantly ensuring that our strategy is supported by great capabilities and the importance of team. I think (as we look toward the future) we’ll still be true to the purpose we have today. It’s really focused on bringing a little bit of joy to all the families we serve each and every week and really enhancing their everyday life. I think that focus on families, that connection we have today with moms with kids with families across the country, will be as true in the future as it is today.
The former CEO of Saks, Steve Sadove, says that what’s really fascinating is the convergence that is currently happening with online and brick and mortar stores. You have the Amazon’s of the world adding brick and mortar store options and then you have Walmart and Target and many others growing at 40-50 percent with their online sales.
Steve Sadove, former Saks CEO, discussed the online and physical store convergence on Fox Business:
Brick and Mortar Isn’t Dying
People buy for many reasons and a good part of it is the experience of shopping. About 80 percent plus of shopping is still done in a brick and mortar store. Brick and mortar isn’t dying, people want to touch and they want to feel. Just think about apparel. With apparel, my old company Saks was doing 30-35 percent of the product online but customers still want to touch and feel and meet with the associate and experience it.
What’s Fascinating is the Convergence of Online and Stores
What’s fascinating is this convergence of online and stores. The Amazon’s of the world are now opening up stores. Then you have the brick and mortar guys who are saying buy online and pick up in stores. Walmart is moving much more in the direction of being omnichannel, encouraging online shopping. Amazon is opening up stores. You have the pop-up stores, you have the Warby Parker’s who are online opening up stores.
The Good Retailer Provides the Experience Wherever They Want It
Then you have the brick and mortar people, Target growing 40-50 percent, Walmart growing 40-50 percent with their Internet business. It’s this convergence that really is what the consumer is valuing because they want to buy anytime, anywhere they want to get product. Some of them hate going into a store. Others just want to go into a store. The good retailer is going to provide that experience wherever they want it and they’re going to give them the value that they want.
The CEO of United National Consumer Suppliers, Brett Rose, says that it’s an amazing time to be a consumer because every day is Black Friday. Rose predicts that this is going to possibly be the biggest Q4 in our history.
All things considered, consumers want free shipping, not quick shipping. However, if all levels are equal with Amazon, Target, and Walmart, the one competitive advantage that Amazon has, that Target and Walmart can’t, is that Amazon has millions of these third-party resellers constantly filling their coffers with products. Target and Walmart are limited to what they have in stock that’s ready to go.
There is no denying that Walmart has made some massive strides. But to come after Amazon is hefty. Like I said Amazon has a constant supply of products where their not just limited to what they’re curating on their own. They’re limitless in regards to what everybody is sending to them to go right to the consumer.
Every Day is Black Friday
Interesting times with tariffs. If you read everything that came out Chinese imports are up 15 percent over the same time last year. They’ve all front-loaded in preparations for the President’s tariffs which are now in full effect. All of these retailers pushed up orders in what might have otherwise taken months. It’s yet to be determined, but consumers still need goods. There’s always going to be a need, the price is just going to fluctuate.
If numbers are indicative, everything these retailers are curating and everything the street is saying, it’s going to be one of if not the biggest Q4 in our history. Even if you look at Black Friday announcements, Black Friday is out already. Amazon has released their Black Friday items. BlackFriday.com, Macy’s, went live the other day with their sales. Retailers are vamping up to stay competitive. You go online now and you can figure out what retailers are selling for Black Friday.
It’s an amazing time to be a consumer. Every day is Black Friday. Right now it really is. They’ve already released what the doorbusters are going to be.
Still a Major Value in Having a Physical Presence
There’s always going to be the consumer that likes to go to the store, likes to feel it, touch it, get the treasure hunt, but now with real-time shipping, free shipping, real-time inventory, it’s a great time to be a consumer. It’s certainly competitive. While Amazon is making strides they are still going after brick & mortar. Buying Whole Foods and some of the other retailers they are looking at, says there is still a major value in having that physical presence.
While Amazon currently accounts for roughly 45% of all online retail sales, the pursuit of a strong offline retail presence is part of Amazon’s long-term business strategy which is why they may now be considering an acquisition of Target. Obviously, Amazon is strong in almost all categories of online shopping, but with The Whole Foods purchase and Amazon Go, this may be the beginning of their entry into a large presence in brick and mortar commerce.
Gene Muster, principal of research-driven Lotus Ventures, has good reasons to believe Amazon is ready to hit the streets and will be targeting a name brand retailer in 2018. Amazon’s goal is to reach more upscale consumers in order to continue both sales growth and new memberships in Amazon Prime. (Fortune)
It appears that Target is still not keen on accepting Apple Pay as a mode of payment in its onsite stores. In a recent post, America’s second-largest retailer announced that it had rolled out Wallet, its own mobile payment system that is now active as a feature for Target’s iOS and Android apps.
The arrival of the Wallet feature has actually been long anticipated by customers. Talks about Target launching its own mobile payment have been around since 2015, but the company waited till January 2017 to confirm its plans.
With the introduction of Wallet, Target customers will now have the option of seamlessly checking out their in-store purchases with the use of their smartphones. They’ll also be able to update points and use discounts with Cartwheel digital coupons.
Reportedly, the Wallet feature found in the Target app is similar to other in-store payment options like Wal-Mart Pay. However, Wal-Mart Pay uses QR code for scanning items, Target’s system is barcode-based.
For it to work though, it seems that shoppers will need a REDcard—a Target-branded debit or credit card packed with special offers. Target, however, wants more customers to shop with Wallet and is already working out a way to get them to use the feature even if they don’t own a REDcard.
The main incentive for using Wallet is that checking out for in-store purchases would be faster. This is achieved because customers can now check out for payment as well as apply Cartwheel deals with a single scan of the in-app barcode.
It should be noted that while Target does not accept payments using Apple Pay for in-store purchases, items bought from Target’s online store can still be paid using Apple’s payment platform.
A war among titans is silently brewing in the online retail arena. Recently, Google announced a partnership with Target, a move that could signal the start of Google’s challenge to eCommerce giant Amazon on its own turf.
Amazon is a serious threat not only to traditional retailers such as Target but to the search engine king Google as well. While Google might be the leader among search engines, many people are heading to Amazon first when looking for a particular product online. According to a Kenshoo survey, Google maintains a relatively small edge over Amazon when it comes product searches.
Image via Search Engine Land
In an effort to widen its lead on product searches, Google has set in motion plans to keep Amazon at bay. It has steadily formed alliances with a number of retailers, to collectively put up a stand against a common enemy.
Google announced on Thursday that it will be expanding its year-old delivery deal with Target. Previously available only in New York City and California, the two companies agreed to provide coverage nationwide, according to The Verge. Shoppers can now order products carried by Target through Google Home smart speaker.
Of course, the arrangement between Google and Target is seen as a direct challenge to Amazon’s service that allows customers to easily order what they want from the online retailer using voice commands through Echo. Though it may be difficult for Google to fend off Amazon in the segment, the company hopes that by partnering with a host of well-known brick-and-mortar stores, people might start seeing Google Home as an alternative to Echo when it comes to voice-activated shopping. And with the growing number of stores joining the alliance, the breadth and variety of products available via the service might be able to compete with Amazon’s dazzling array of options.
Aside from Target, Google already has a similar partnership with Walmart. In August, the company gained access “hundreds of thousands of items” being sold by the Walmart, Adweek reported. Google also managed to secure agreements with other big retailers such as Home Depot.
What is interesting to note is that the Google and Target deal will likely employ either augmented or virtual reality to lure customers into the service according to a Recode. The speculation is based on the press release given by Mike McNamara Target’s digital chief.
“Target and Google teams are working on … building experiences that digitally replicate the joy of shopping a Target store to discover stylish and affordable products,” McNamara previously announced. Of course, the details are yet to be revealed but it will be interesting to see just how the search giant utilizes an emerging technology like augmented reality to further its business objective.
Searching for products being offered on Target will soon be as easy as taking a photo on your mobile phone. In a recent announcement, Pinterest revealed that it teamed up with Target allowing the retailer to use the former’s visual search called Lens.
The deal aims to harness the power of Pinterest’s visual search tool by shortening the buying cycle and catching potential shoppers at their moment of discovery. If something catches a potential buyer’s eyes, like an article of clothing, for instance, the buyer can just snap a picture of the clothes and, with the Lens technology, the system will display similarly styled clothes being sold at Target.
As part of the deal, Target has committed to increasing its ad spending on Pinterest in exchange for gaining access to the Lens technology, Marketing Land reported. However, it was not disclosed just how much ad spending Target will be shelling out for this commitment.
There are speculations that Target and Pinterest might enter into some form of ad revenue sharing scheme in the future where they can sell ads to businesses that want their products to be featured prominently in the Lens search results. While indeed a possibility, a Pinterest spokesperson explained that such partnership is not yet being considered at the moment.
The companies are trying to position themselves on the rising trend of using images and voice to search the web instead of typing the actual phrase. If this trend continues, estimates project that by 2020, 50 percent of internet searches will be done using images and voice.
The deal could encourage consumers to buy from Target. Even if the actual product being photographed is not sold by Target, the search result generated by Lens will only show similar products being sold by the retailer.
Pinterest has been sinking serious money into its image search technology program. It allocated a large chunk out of the $120 million it got from the latest round of funding for r&d. This resulted into the redesigned Lens which introduced new useful features into the image search tool such as zoom, focusing ability by tapping and a search option for previously taken photos saved to the Camera Roll.
Target will initially plug Pinterest’s Lens tool into its Target Registry mobile app. However, there are plans that the image search tool will eventually be integrated into the main Target mobile app as well its desktop counterpart sometime in the future.
Gwen Stefani is planning something big for The Grammys.
The singer and The Voice star has announced that she will be participating in the first-ever music video created on live TV.
The music video will be for her new song “Make Me Like You”, and will be made in collaboration with Target.
“Target has an incredible legacy of creating unexpected moments in music, and I’m thrilled to be partnering with them to create my new music video on live television next Monday,” said Stefani in a statement.
The video will premiere live during the February 15th Grammy awards, and will last about four minutes.
“Gwen is both a music and style icon, and someone Target has had the fortune to work with on a number of occasions over the years,” said Jeff Jones, executive vice president and chief marketing officer, Target. “Last year, Target created one of the most talked about moments of the night by offering Grammy viewers a surprise live concert. This year, we’re dialing up the theatrics and taking live to an entirely new level, giving fans even more ways to experience this must-see music performance as they watch it on TV and view the action unfold on social media.”
“Make Me Life You” is part of Stefani’s upcoming new album. She recently unveiled the track list on Twitter.
Lilly Pulitzer’s collabortation with Target caused quite a stir on Sunday as the brands limited edition collection went up for sale at the chain retailer.
Women, sometimes in lines running into parking lots, evoked memories of Black Friday hysteria as they battled for a cheaper piece of the usually expensive Lilly Pulitzer brand.
Lilly Pulitzer is responsible for the shift dress, which she sold from her orange juice stand in Palm Beach, Florida, starting in 1959.
The classic and simple design of the Lilly Pulitzer shift dress is a fashion phenomenon that has withstood the test of time and has remained in high demand.
The big deal was that Target only had a limited amount of Lilly Pulitzer fare, and all of those who couldn’t afford to pay hundred of dollars for one of her dresses were exceedingly eager to get one or five for around 80 percent off of what they normally cost.
If #LillyforTarget was supposed to be accessible for everyone, why was it all gone within thirty seconds?
In fact, in a matter of hours, in some cases a matter of minutes, shelves were emptied and online shoppers couldn’t fill their carts fast enough before certain items became unavailable.
However, not everyone is a huge fan of Lilly Pulitzer.
Robin Givhan of the Washington Post is not impressed with Lilly Pulitzer. She remarked, “The clothes are, upon close inspection, not so terribly attractive. Actually, they are rather unattractive. And that is part of their charm. They are not meant to be stylish — that’s so nouveau. The clothes are clubby. Country clubby. One-percent-ish.”
She continued, “Target created a feeding frenzy of shoppers lured by cheap versions of A-line sheaths that are mostly distinguished by their swirling, colorful prints rather than by silhouette, fabric, craftsmanship or creativity.”
She then added, “The massive lines, crashing web sites and lust-filled tweets under #LillyForTarget are less proof of shoppers’ discerning taste than evidence that folks love a whiff of leisure-class exclusivity, a brand name and a bargain — however that might be defined.”
What do you think about the Lilly Pulitzer for Target collection? Did you stand in line for it?
Target has agreed to pay $10 million to settle a class-action lawsuit brought by victims of the company’s 2013 data breach – a massive hack that exposed up to 70 million people.
According to CBS News, the settlement has been OK’ed, but awaits final approval from a federal district court. The settlement is large enough to offer up to $10,000 to each individual victim – but as usual with this type of case, a lot will depend on how many injured parties wind up in the claim.
“We are pleased to see the process moving forward and look forward to its resolution,” Target spokesperson Molly Snyder told CBS News.
In December of 2013, Target announced an unknown intrusion into its systems, including payment card data. At the time, Target said that 40 million credit and debit cards had been impacted.
A month later, the number of affected parties had risen to 70 million. The breach, which Target said was aided by foreign software installed on payment machines, affected customers who shopped at Target from November 27, 2013, to December 15, 2013.
Target has announced a corporate restructuring plan that will see it ax several thousand jobs – but the focus will be at the headquarters level and not at the company’s 1,800+ retail locations.
In order to “fuel growth and drive profitability”, Target is looking to cut costs to the tune of $2 billion.
“These savings will be realized through operations, technology and process improvements; supply chain and sourcing efficiencies; and corporate restructuring,” says the company.
This will include some job cuts, which will come primarily from corporate locations in Minneapolis and India – which employ around 26,000 people in all – according to Reuters.
“Following a thorough, strategic review of our business, coupled with a careful evaluation of the changing retail landscape, we have identified the key initiatives that will put Target on a clear path to growth,” said Chairman and CEO Brian Cornell in a statement. “We’re focused on our future and building the capabilities that will take us further, faster. Redefining Target will require a renewed emphasis on prioritization and innovation, and above all else, putting our guests first in everything we do.”
Apart from the corporate restructuring, Target has also announced a new focus on a “channel-agnostic” approach – meaning more focus on online sales and technology.
“The retailer is taking a channel-agnostic approach to growing its business, driving a total Target experience across stores, online and mobile. Guests who shop Target in stores and online generate three times the sales compared to guests who shop in stores only. Continued enhancements in technology, supply chain and inventory management will create a shopping experience that is rooted in ease and inspiration. This will help spur Target’s continued annual growth in digital channel sales of 40 percent, as well as contribute to a total projected sales growth of 2 to 3 percent and comparable sales growth of 1.5 to 2.5 percent in 2015,” said the company in a press release.
Target says it’ll invest at least $1 billion in tech.
Target recently killed its online streaming service Target Ticket. It also took a swipe at Amazon by lowering its free shipping threshold – months after Amazon raised its.
Target saw record online sales during Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday, and it looks like that strong performance made the company think about how to increase its online presence even more.
Dropping free shipping thresholds to $25, $10 below online retail king Amazon, is a pretty good start.
Target has just cut its minimum order price to qualify for free shipping in half. Orders that qualify for free shipping will arrive in 3-5 business days, and Target says that “most items” qualify (bigger items may require a handling fee). Expediting the shipping to one or two days will cost extra. And of course, there’s always the free in-store pickup option.
“Lowering the free shipping threshold from $50 to $25 is one more way Target is putting guests first and making it easier for them to shop Target when and where they want,” said Jason Goldberger, president of Target.com and Mobile. “We saw an enthusiastic response to our free shipping offer over the holidays. Now, whether guests are stocking up or doing fill-in shopping, we’ve enhanced our year-round shipping offer to be one of the best in all of retail.”
Amazon increased its free shipping threshold from $25 to $35 in October of 2013, the first time the company had done so in a decade. Shortly after that, Amazon increased the cost of an Amazon Prime subscription, citing shipping costs as one reason why.
Companies launch new products and shutter flailing products all the time, and it often goes unnoticed. You might not know anything about Target Ticket, and you might not care.
But Target Tickets exists, at least for now. Target has just announced that the service will shut down on March 7, in order to let it “focus efforts on other entertainment offerings.”
“Thank you for choosing Target Ticket for your digital entertainment. We Hope that you’ve enjoyed your movies and TV shows with us. Target has made the decision to end the services offered on Target Ticket and will be focusing efforts on other entertainment offerings. Effective March 7th, 2015, Target Ticket will no longer be accessible on your device applications, gaming consoles, tablets, smartphones, or on the web,” says Target on a notice posted to the Target Ticket landing page.
So, what is was Target Ticket? In September of 2013, after months of beta testing, Target launched Target Ticket wide. At Target Ticket, you could rent and buy movies and TV shows on-demand. It was a Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu Plus competitor in that it offered over-the-internet, on-demand content – but it really wasn’t a competitor in that it didn’t offer any streaming subscription plan.
The content wasn’t ever a problem with Target Ticket – it offered major movie releases and top TV shows. I guess it was that nobody needed it. Target marketed it as a “family friendly” product, but you know, if that’s your selling point…
So, are you a Target Ticket customer? Probably not. But if you are, here are your options moving forward:
– Do you have purchased movies lying around? Are they UltraViolet? Good, they’ll be available on other platforms like Vudu and Flixster.
– Do you have purchased movies/TV shows lying around? Are they also available on CinemaNow? Good, because Target has partnered with CinemaNow to allow users to transfer their libraries over. Of course, if the movie you purchased via Target Ticket isn’t available on CinemaNow then you’re…
– Shit out of luck. Well, not exactly, you’ll receive store credit according to Target.
Target will give us more info as the March 7 deadline approaches. Till then, pour one out for Target Ticket. RIP.
Cyber Monday, the Monday after the Thanksgiving holiday, was a term coined in 2005, as a marketing ploy to encourage consumers to shop for their wares online.
In 2013, Cyber Monday online sales grew by 20.6% over 2012, hitting a record $2.29 billion, with an average order of $128.
Target’s Cyber Monday deals begin on Sunday, Nov. 30 at midnight, and run until Saturday, Dec. 6 at 11:59 p.m., and shipping is free on all purchases made at Target.com through Dec. 20. The free standard shipping, (3–5 business days), applies to the 48 contiguous states, and might not apply to oversize items.
Notable discounts include:
– Buy one get one at 50% off for clothing, shoes and accessories
– Up to 40% off items for the home, including kitchen, furniture and bedding
– 20% off KitchenAid appliances
– Buy one get one at 50% off for Star Wars, vintage games and more
– Buy one get one at 50% off for kids’ bedding and bath items
Target Black Friday 2013 shopping madness:
Notable electronics deals include:
– A Samsung 40″ Class 1080p 120Hz Smart Quad Core Processor LED TV for $449.99
– An Xbox One 500GB Console Bundle with Assassin’s Creed Unity and Black Flag for $349.99
– A Canon PowerShot ELPH 150 Digital Camera Bundle with Case and Memory Card for $99.99
– A Nintendo 3DS XL Red Console + Super Smash Bros Bundle for $199.99
Notable home appliance deals include:
– A BISSELL SpotBot for $99.99
– A Hamilton Beach Searing Grill for $49.99
– A Keurig Cappuccino Maker – R500 Rivo Single Serve Brewer, and Latte for $199.99
– A Brother Electronic Sewing Machine for $99.00
A Ferguson-related protest effectively shut down a Target location in Chesterfield, Missouri:
Target was in the news last holiday shopping season, after a massive data breach compromised roughly 40 million debit and credit cards numbers. Information on up to 70 million people was also leaked.
Former chairman, president and CEO Gregg Steinhafel resigned after the snafu.
Alex from Target is the product of a social media experiment. At least that’s what a Los Angeles marketing firm is saying. Breakr CEO Dil-Domine Jacobe Leonares claimed in a LinkedIn post that his company was behind the social media hype surrounding the handsome teenage Target employee known simply as “Alex from Target”. In the post dated Monday, November 3, Leonares said, “Yesterday, we had fun on Twitter with the hashtag #AlexFromTarget which ended up to be one of the most amazing social media experiments ever. We wanted to see how powerful the fangirl demographic was.”
The social media phenomenon surrounding “Alex from Target” (whose real name is reported to be Alex Lee), began when pictures of him circulated around Twitter. According to the social media analytics site Topsy.com, the hashtag #AlexFromTarget has been tweeted 1.5 million times.
In the same post by Leonares, he claimed that Breakr initiated the trend by having a Twitter user from London named Abbie tweet a picture of Alex. However, Breakr couldn’t present any proof of their dealings with Abbie who denies any knowledge of the marketing firm.
Target also denied any knowledge about the stunt, claiming that they had nothing to do with the creation or posting of the photo. The photo was allegedly taken by a teenage girl from Texas named Brooklyn Reiff who took a snapshot of Alex to show to her friend Alanna Page. Both girls have also claimed to have no knowledge regarding Breakr.
Even Alex himself denied any involvement with Breakr by tweeting, “My family and I have never heard of this company,” and, “I didn’t know the pic was taken or tweeted until my store manager showed me.”
Update: Alex Lee says he has never heard of the marketing company taking credit for ‘Alex From Target’ phenomenon http://t.co/8ItyXgnWmD
It is worth noting that Breakr is a small company with only a handful of employees, and their capacity to orchestrate an elaborate social media experiment such as the “Alex From Target” phenomenon has come into question.
Whether it’s an elaborate hoax or not, “Alex from Target” has invaded pop culture, at least for as long as the trend will last.
