Target's Bumpy Road To Digital Solutions

Mobile Marketer is out with a worthy read about Target. A few of the major retailers are making major moves towards digital and Target has been one of them.  Certainly worth keeping an eye on.  This story lays out some questions around their path so far.

http://www.mobilemarketer.com/cms/news/software-technology/20552.html

Here is a snippet from that piece:

Target has earned a reputation as a mobile leader by aggressively pivoting from a traditional bricks-and-mortar retailer to a mobile-centered operation, but the company may have overextended itself in the race to have a presence across multiple platforms, with the user experience suffering in some cases as a result, according to a Mobile Marketer analysis.

Despite the department store chain’s focus on testing, learning and working hand-in-hand with consumers in its digital transformation, its current ratings on app stores reflect dissatisfaction with the user experience, an undesirable development in a hyper-competitive marketplace. The issues may point to Target’s need to hire a bigger and better UX team.

Here is another little article that captures an interview with the Target CEO talking technology and digital:

http://www.chainstoreage.com/article/target-ceo-brian-cornell-talks-tech

Here is a snippet from that piece:

Brian Cornell, CEO and chairman of Target Corp., has focused on digital innovation since he took the top spot at the chain last August. He recently participated in a Q&A at the high-profile tech event, the Code Conference, in Ranchos Palos, California.

Here are some highlights from his conversation, as posted on Target’s very own Bullseye View blog.

When asked about Target's digital priority: “I want to make sure our guests and our entire organization know how committed we are to digital ... We put up that 40% figure (Target’s plan for digital growth) to show that we’re all in. We’re bringing in talent and great engineering to elevate the online experience.”

Happy Reading,

J.W. Gant

**UPDATE** Another good story about Target's work towards bricks & mobile.  This speaks to the $1B they are investing on the approach:
http://risnews.edgl.com/retail-news/Target-Addresses-Digital-Channels-After-Overwhelming-Demand-for-Lilly-Pulitzer-Collaboration100396