Assignment 5: Target.com

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Target Corporation: Summary

            Target is the second largest discount-store retailer in the United States behind Walmart. Based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Target has over 1,800 stores, and over 323,000 employees. (Target, n.d.) Target launched the current iteration of their website in 2011 after ending partnerships with third-parties that complete their fulfillment. According to SimilarWeb, Target.com is the 62nd most visited website in the United States, and the 329th most visited website in the world. (SimilarWeb, 2018). It is also the 44th most popular “shopping” website in the world. (SimilarWeb, 2018).

            According to information published on their corporate site, Target customers:

·       Median age of 40

·       Median household income of approx. $64K

·       Approximately 43% have children at home

·       About 57% have completed college

(Target, n.d.)



Target Corporation: Data & Web Analytics

            Target has consistently outperformed other retailers, and business within other industries, with their analytical approach to marketing and product placement. This has transcended to more than just data mining product purchases. Their abilities go into hiring top-tier statisticians and analysts to determine predictive analytics based on behavior exhibited with their stores and online.

            As Reuters writes, “what sets Target apart from the crowd is an aggressive datamining of customer interactions. That includes customers’ cell phones, web cookies, purchase histories, prescription and other health information.” (Lipka, 2014) This famously led to a story where Target correctly guessed that an underage girl was pregnant and sent a pregnancy-related offer to her home, much to the surprise of her parents. “The company can identify by name more than half the customers who walk into their stores and browse their website,” according to Reuters. (Lipka, 2014)

            All of this information is stored in a central customer relationship system. According to Andrew Pole, a Target executive, “Target assigns each shopper a unique code — known internally as the Guest ID number — that keeps tabs on everything they buy. “If you use a credit card or a coupon, or fill out a survey, or mail in a refund, or call the customer help line, or open an e-mail we’ve sent you or visit our Web site, we’ll record it and link it to your Guest ID,” Pole said. “We want to know everything we can.” (Duhigg, 2012)

“Each consumer’s spending and demographic information - such as age, marital status and address - is the foundation for the Guest ID which enables the store to identify brands you are loyal to, what offers tempted you and whether you can be persuaded to shift spending from other stores to Target.” (Lipka, 2014) The company also purchases third party, publicly accessible data, along with information customers post online to round out its data and web analytics. “Target can buy data about your ethnicity, job history, the magazines you read, if you’ve ever declared bankruptcy or got divorced, the year you bought (or lost) your house, where you went to college, what kinds of topics you talk about online, whether you prefer certain brands of coffee, paper towels, cereal or applesauce, your political leanings, reading habits, charitable giving and the number of cars you own.” (Duhigg, 2012)

Target is focusing on combining the power of analyzing web and data analytics because it leads to very profitable results. In looking at the power of predicting if someone is pregnant, for example, it would be especially helpful for marketers looking to get ahead to know if a customer was pregnant in the second trimester. Pole explained,

“We knew that if we could identify them in their second trimester, there’s a good chance we could capture them for years. As soon as we get them buying diapers from us, they’re going to start buying everything else too. If you’re rushing through the store, looking for bottles, and you pass orange juice, you’ll grab a carton. Oh, and there’s that new DVD I want. Soon, you’ll be buying cereal and paper towels from us, and keep coming back.” (Duhigg, 2012)



            With this power, it can be easy to see how Target and Target.com have been especially successful in increasing sales.



Target Corporation: Target.com

            Target.com has been successful at displaying relevant content to its users to entice growing sales. This has been not only from direct traffic to Target.com, but also with a robust search engine campaign. According to SimilarWeb, over 43% of Target.com’s traffic is from search. (SimilarWeb, 2018).

(SimilarWeb, 2018)



Target.com search terms encompass organic and search. While the primary search term is “Target” and related Target products, some of their top producing paid searches are not related to marketing their own domain.



(SimilarWeb, 2018).



Additionally, Target.com also has a robust digital display advertising program. They use dynamic retargeted ads that display items related to your search history on their site. Their primary ad network is Google Display Network.



(SimilarWeb, 2018).



            On Target’s website, they also drill down to the individual’s past purchase history to display relevant content on their website for that user. Using my own personal history, for example, Target displayed content for their home furnishing on this homepage. This was different when viewed in “InPrivate” viewing mode where cookies were not available.





(Target, n.d.)

            In this example, Target served two different images related to their “Threshold” line, which I previously purchased online. In the private browsing mode, this same location on the home page was take with beauty products.



Target Corporation: Conclusion

            Target has been a leader in data analytics, and predictive analytics for e-commerce. They combine traditional data mining operations with retail sales tracking, but they take it a step further with enhanced data from third parties and adding web-based analytics. The combination is a seamless and personalized experience from Target, whether it is web or print marketing.              

References

Target. (n.d.). corporate overview. Accessed from:




SimilarWeb. (2018, Feb). Target.com overview. Accessed from:




Lipka, M. (2014, Jan 23). What Target knows about you. Reuters. Accessed from:




Duhigg, C. (2012, Feb 16). How Companies Learn Your Secrets. New York Times. Accessed

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