With Consumers Staying at Home, Target E-Commerce Thrives, Executives Say
Target’s same-day services -- order pickup, drive-up and Shipt personal shopper service -- grew 278% in Q1, generating 5 points of the company’s total 10.8% comparable sales growth, said management Wednesday. Quarterly sales grew 11.3% year on year to $19.4…
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billion for the quarter ended May 2. Digital comp sales jumped 141%, accounting for 9.9 points of total comp sales growth. Q1 level digital volumes weren’t anticipated for another three years, said Chief Operating Officer John Mulligan on a Wednesday earnings call. Management focused on the company’s operating model that combines store and digital operations. “The first quarter demonstrated the strength of that model,” said CEO Brian Cornell: Volatility in the quarter “presented the most extreme test of our business and operations that I could have imagined.” Digital sales grew by $1.1 billion in April, with store fulfillment generating more than $950 million of that growth, said Cornell. Using stores as hubs, and the ability of teams to pivot to meet shifting demand, enabled the surge in fulfillment last month, said Cornell. Target had higher costs in fulfillment but expects to gain customer loyalty. Some 5 million customers shopped at Target.com for the first time in Q1; more than 2 million made their first drive-up trip, Cornell said.