“I was completely floored, not just by her professionalism, but by her genuine desire to make sure I got the best service possible …” That’s from a Target guest in Chicago, talking about one of our amazing store team members. We hear those kinds of messages on a daily basis about our talented team—whether they’re helping guests search for the perfect gift or making Target Runs easier than ever. Over the last few years, we’ve transformed how we run our stores and support our team, all so we can give guests the joyful shopping experience they’ve come to expect from the bullseye.
“Several years ago, we saw huge potential in stores and put them at the center of our strategy, which required a shift in how we operated. To do that, we began a massive, multi-year effort to redefine what it means to work at Target,” says John Mulligan, Chief Operations Officer, Target. “Today, we’ve reinvented our stores workforce to put guests at the very core of what we do, and to modernize how we meet our guest’s evolving needs.”
That change has brought new roles, new responsibilities and new skills to more than 300,000 team members across more than 1,800 stores. We spent years testing new ways of working and listened to our team to adjust as we went along. Our team members collectively spent millions of hours training for their new roles. And this summer, we finished rolling out the new model to all of our stores—in time for the holidays.
The big shift: Our store teams put our guests at the center of everything they do. They’ve gone from working all over the store and checking off tasks to specializing in a specific area and providing a great experience for our guests, building skills for future career growth. We’ve added millions of payroll hours to make sure we have team members on hand to help guests when they’re shopping, especially during our busiest hours. We staff our stores based on our guests’ shopping schedules, making sure team members are available for them. And we’ve invested in our team, well on our way to a $15 minimum starting wage by 2020.
How does it all work? Step inside one of our stores to find out …
Guest Advocates at the front of the store are focused on helping you get your Target Run done easily and fast—whether they’re ringing your items through registers, helping with self-checkout, getting your Order Pickup items ready or bringing your Drive Up order right to your car. They’re empowered to give you the experience you expect, and they have the info on all the ways shopping at Target can be even easier and more rewarding—like Target Circle, our new loyalty program, RedCard or our amazing promos. They know all there is to know about our popular fulfillment services, and they’re available to help guests with questions and returns.
As you walk through the store, you’ll encounter General Merchandise Experts. They’re focused on a specific area of the store—from home décor and pets to toys and grocery. They make sure their shelves are well-stocked, priced accurately and in good shape. Apps on their handheld devices help them retrieve sales information, check inventory throughout the store, answer guest questions and more.
Beauty, Style and Tech Consultants are on-hand to offer specialized service in the areas of the store where you need it most. Consultants take their knowledge on products to the next level. For example, consultants in the beauty area give makeup tips, help guests find what they’re looking for and stay up-to-date on the latest beauty trends. They even test product at home so they can offer firsthand advice. Plus, consultants also keep their areas of the store stocked and priced.
Meanwhile, Fulfillment Experts prepare online orders to ship to guests’ homes, as well as orders placed through Drive Up and Order Pickup. These team members pick product from the sales floor or backroom, part of our strategy to make our stores centers of guest service and digital fulfillment. Once again, they’re guided by apps on their handheld devices to help them move faster than ever. In fact, the app helps them take the most efficient route through the store as they prepare online orders. We’ve doubled the number of team members focused on fulfillment for the holidays to prepare our teams for increased volume. In fact, our stores now fulfill the majority of online orders.
Whether they’re giving advice in our aisles, shipping online orders or educating guests on all the services Target offers, our store teams are hard at work in our new model just ahead of the holidays. And they’re ready to serve guests during our busiest season.
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