Blog 5: Target Corporation

In this blog activity, social media has affected many companies and retailer corporations around the world. One of the global retailers is Target Corporation, which is an international discount retailer that has adopted a number of social technology measures. Target is located in Minneapolis, Minnesota by and established by Doug Dayton and his brothers in 1962, and it is the second largest retailer in the U.S. behind Wal-Mart (Target Corporation). Then, it has expanded to be more than 1220 stores located in about 47 states, then reached to Canada and Australia (Target Corporation). These stores carry a range of clothing and some non-perishable grocery items; some stores also sell electronic items, sports accessories, furniture and other products.

Two store variants have been introduced during the last ten years – one is PFresh, selling perishable food items and groceries; the other is Super Target, which is essentially a hypermarket selling a very wide range of products. According to the annual report (2013), Target Corporation earned total revenues of $72.3 billion as of 2013 and had net earnings of $1.9 billion. A quarter of this revenue was generated from sales of household essentials (Annual Report, 2013).

 

Target has a prominent and active presence on almost all social network platforms/channels. It has been suggested that social network properties and the use of technology by individuals can be well synchronized to design an effective selling organization (Chung & Hossain, 2010). Target uses this philosophy well in its online communications. For example, it maintains multiple hashtags on Twitter corresponding to different customer requirements and keeps announcing exclusive deals and offers through these hashtags. This means, every hashtag is used for a specific purpose to meet users’ needs.

For example, #TargetDeals is used for the clearance and hot deals, so the customer can be updated via Target website or twitter to get the deal. Here, we can see how they bring all offers in one place to the customer, and the customer can check that easily.

 

Also, there are #TargetStyle and Facebook that used for the latest fashions for customers, so the customer will might not miss the newest models and styles. We can see here how they use the social media tools in marketing and sales functions, and these might include interaction, marketing and social commerce levers that McKinsey published in 2012. Additionally, there is a popular hashtag that is related to bring the latest events, news, partnerships and collaborations, #TargetNews, and Bullseye View website is an official magazine used for the same purposes. Here we can apply the operations and distribution functions that published by McKinsey.

 

Another hashtag, #AskTarget that is used for customer support/care via Twitter as a function of McKinsey’s levers, and it is used to reply to consumers and answer their questions. Target replies quickly to many customer posts on Facebook and other social media sites, and also manages its public relations through these sites (Hitz, 2014). Similarly, they regularly post videos and images on Facebook, YouTube, Pinterest and Instagram, and link these posts with each other.

Furthermore, Target has an “app” called Cartwheel that allows customers to use their smartphones as barcode scanners during checkout, and also share activities on Facebook in term of communication with others. It is evident that Target takes a serious interest in social technology.

 

References

Annual Report. (2013). Target Corporation. Retrieved from https://corporate.target.com/annual-reports/2013/financials/financial-highlights

Answers. (n.d.). Target Corporation. Retrieved from http://www.answers.com/topic/target-corporation

Chung, K. S. K. & Hossain, L. (2010). Towards a social network model for understanding information and communication technology use for general practitioners in rural Australia. Computers in Human Behavior, 26(4), 562-571.

Hitz, L. (2014). Target on Social Media: How the Retail Giant Markets to a Social Audience of 138 Million. Simply Measured. Retrieved from http://simplymeasured.com/blog/2014/05/19/target-on-social-media-how-the-retail-giant-markets-to-a-social-audience-of-138-million/