Target Preps for a Coronavirus Christmas
Target is adding 20,000 more products to the assortment it has available for pickup and delivery, including fresh and frozen grocery items, just in time for the holiday season.
The Minneapolis-based retailer gave an early preview of its holiday strategy on Monday, saying it is planning to expand its offering of fresh and frozen grocery items via Order Pickup and Drive Up to at least 1,500 Target stores across the country by this fall.
Target also said its stores will be closed on Thanksgiving due to the coronavirus pandemic, and that the retailer will roll out its biggest deals of the year in stores and online in October.
"There’s no question, the holiday season is going to be very different this year," says Target CEO Brian Cornell. “The investments we’ve made in our business and our incredible team have enabled us to move with flexibility and speed to meet guests’ changing needs during this global pandemic."
In June Target COO John Mulligan said "the speed and convenience of our fulfillment options are unmatched across the country, and they’ve become even more critical for our guests searching for easy and safe ways to shop during the pandemic. By adding fresh grocery to the pickup services our guests already love, we’re giving them even more reasons to shop at Target. During a time when even more people are looking for different ways to get the items they need, we’ll continue to invest in making Target the easiest and safest place to shop.”
The new service covers some 750 food items, including produce, dairy, bakery, meat and frozen products. “Now guests can get the grocery items they need — like milk, bread, eggs and ice cream — along with the staples they’ve already been getting through Drive Up and Order Pickup,” the company said. “And those items are in addition to the more than 250,000 items available for pickup across categories like home, apparel, essentials and more.”
Orders placed via the service are ready within a few hours, the retailer noted, adding that “for Drive Up, the experience is completely contactless, as we bring the order to your car in less than two minutes."
Target operates more than 1,800 stores, 39 distribution centers and Target.com. The Minneapolis-based company is No. 7 on The PG 100, Progressive Grocer's 2020 list of the top food retailers in North America.
