Only one month after acquiring Shipt for $550 million, Target is rapidly expanding same-day delivery. While 57 stores in Alabama and South Florida will be the first to offer these services on Feb. 1, approximately half of Target’s 1,834 stores are expected to offer the service by the end of Q1 2018. Target plans to expand the service to nearly all of its stores by the 2018 holiday season.
The February expansion of the Shipt service will include areas of Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.
In December, Target revealed plans to offer a limited number of items for same-day delivery, including groceries, essentials, home and electronics, with a stated goal of expanding to all product categories by the end of 2019.
Advertisement
Though Shipt is now a wholly owned Target subsidiary, it still operates like a retail partner. Shipt employees will pick up products at Target stores — not warehouses — for delivery purposes, the way they do for other retailers. Shipt currently serves major grocers including Kroger, Meijer, Publix and H-E-B.
Shipt charges a $99 annual membership for unlimited free deliveries in as little as one hour. The current minimum for Shipt orders is $35, which matches the Target.com threshold for free shipping.
Target has emphasized the need to speed up delivery as it enhances its supply chain, acquiring Grand Junction, a local delivery software company, in August 2017.This platform links retailers and other distributors to a network of more than 700 carriers across North America, and its software is designed to give retailers visibility into deliveries and track carrier performance.
Additionally, the retailer launched its Target Restock next-day essentials delivery service in Minneapolis in June 2017, and has since expanded it to 10+ markets.
