Target Makes a Move
Wandering the aisles of Target yesterday I came across an open, bazaar-type expanse where their Christmas products had been some weeks before. “Oh yeah,” my wife said, “this is their new bulk-product push they’re doing.” Huh? My HR-trained, pregnant wife had the scoop on me? She doesn’t listen to business podcasts all day long! She doesn’t read the Journal and the local businesses pages every. single. morning! But there it was; my wife knew more than I did about this one area of business. Of course I couldn’t let it stand. So I did some research and here’s the story:
Target’s “Great Save” is a concentrated seven-week effort to present customers with values and quantity options that cast the retailer in a new light. According to this Reuter’s article, it is being pitched not as a new permanent offering but more as a special marketing event. It is a limited-time opportunity for shoppers to enjoy economies of scale in their shopping without paying membership fees for a Costco or Sam’s Club. There are no current plans to extend the program past February 21, but some of the most popular items might be worked into Target’s normal offerings.
So Target gets to excite its regular shoppers with better-than-normal values. In the process they will likely generate some word-of-mouth promotion and gain valuable new data about the shopping habits of their customer base. Clever, Target. Very clever.
