Stores spotlight new lighting and displays, customer specialists, and click-and-collect stations.
In the wake of Q1 financial figures that were less than stellar, Target has announced the launch of a pilot that tests new concepts in 25 stores in Los Angeles, calling them the “stores of the future,” , according to The Street. The pilot spotlights a number of the chain’s top enhancements and improvements including new lighting and displays, specialists to aid customers in departments like beauty, and dedicated stations supporting click-and-collect services. The goal is to “study the power they have on guest experience and sales,” a Target statement explained. The pilots will help determine the best-performing enhancement combos to inject into future store prototypes and design plans.
Target's "LA25" concepts unite under one roof various store enhancements being tested by the retailer in select locations across the U.S., and also emphasize upgraded in-store dining options, replacing the chain's traditional popcorn and hot dog concessions with sleeker Starbucks cafes, Freshii salads and Which Wich deli sandwiches.
Target is making a significant investment in the customer experience this year, with plans to spend $1 billion in renovation and changes. It will fully remodel 39 locations in 2016, and open 15 new stores, The Street notes. Los Angeles was the logical place for the pilot, Target believes, in part because California represents its biggest market, with 260 stores across the state, and because the area is home to a mix of big-box and smaller format stores.
"What we are doing with LA25 will influence our next-generation store experience that we are working on—there may also be specific sections from these stores that may help influence the chain quicker," Mark Schindele, the Target senior vice president who's leading LA25, told The Street.
“Target is just now getting its own mojo back after frittering it away over the last seven or so years, which is to say they were focused, importantly, on interesting, well-differentiated goods in addition to having the everyday things that people shop for every day,” Mark Cohen, professor of retail studies at Columbia University and former employee of Target’s parent company, told Retail Dive earlier this year. “Wal-Mart has only been able to appeal by being cheap. Their stores don’t reflect any gracefulness or care in that regard. They’re just filled with stuff that’s priced very very cheaply.”
