Target adds AR, but still focused on stores
Target has been one of those retailers that in our view has been lost between the shift to digital commerce offerings from Amazon (AMZN) and club/warehouse ones from Costco Wholesale (COST) and others. What we find interesting is how Target continues to baby step its way into the Connected Society with GPS maps being deployed for its stores and augmented reality (AR) applications for certain products.
Then again, when a CEO continues to focus the business model on the old way of doing business – retail sales in stores – rather than the business model that consumers are embracing (as evidenced by the monthly retail sales data), it’s bound to be messy. Change is hard, especially given Target’s store count, but Costco and Walmart (WMT) have found digital religion, why not Target?
Target is taking on the beauty market, bringing in augmented reality (AR) to develop its Target Beauty Studio.
A collaborative project with Perfect Corp.’s YouCam Makeup app will allow customers in 10 stores the opportunity to “try on” different shades of makeup using a digital screen before they make a purchase. While Target plans to bring the technology to more stores this year, it still plans to offer in-store beauty experts.
The news follows comments from , who has said he still believes the brand’s brick-and-mortar stores are central to its strategy — even with increasing eCommerce sales.“The winning retailers of the future are going to combine great physical assets with the ease that comes along with that digital interaction,” Cornell told CNBC in February.
“For the foreseeable future, the majority of U.S. retail sales will still take place at stores,” according to Target CEO Brian Cornell.
In addition to investments in its stores, Target has been rolling out delivery services in Florida and Minnesota after acquiring Shipt in 2017. The purchase “significantly accelerates” its digital fulfillment efforts, the company said at the time, and could bring same-day delivery to approximately half its stores in early 2018.
Source: AR, Men’s Products Come To Target’s Beauty | PYMNTS.com
