In: Operations Management
Target Corporation: Target Corporation is the 8th largest retail (department and discount)store chain in the US, headquartered in Minnesota, United States. Target Corporation has 1844 stores in the US as per the 2019 data. Target Corporation has 3 store formats named Target Discount Store, Hypermarket Super Target, and Small Format Target. Target is known as Walmart's biggest competitor in the US. Target has its online presence where customers can purchase the products from. In the stores, Target sells perishables, dry grocery, dairy, and frozen items. Target Corporation employes 360000 people in its organization.
Target Corporation Mission Statement (Quoted from its website): The mission statement of Target Corporation is," To make Target the preferred shopping destination for our guests by delivering outstanding value, continuous innovation and exceptional guest experience by consistently fulfilling our Expect More, Pay Less. Brand Promise."
It is clear from the mission statement that the company wants to become one of the largest retail store chains by giving the best service and values to its customers.
Target Corporation Goal Statement: Target Corporation has set various goals to be achieved by 2020. As per the Target website, the goal statement of Target Corporation is, "Guided commitments to great value, the community, diversity, and the environment." This statement is explaining that Target is working so hard to give the best reputation to the organization in its lifetime and provide values and impact all sectors of the society.
Target has short-term goals to achieve such as,
a. Empower Teams of the organization.
b. Serve guests and customers and provide the best value in the store.
c. Foster different communities.
d. Design tomorrow.
SWOT Analysis or Target Corporation
Strengths: The main strengths of Target corporation are listed below,
a. Target Corporation is one of the biggest retail store chains and a well-known brand in the US and highly respected by the consumers because Target provides the best quality products at the best rates. It has 1844 stores in the US.
b. It has a huge range of products and a one-stop store to buy anything and customer can buy from its digital channels as well.
c. Target provides the best customer shopping experience at the store and it is a fun place for shopping for customers.
d. Target has one of the best distribution systems with 40 distribution centers.
e. Target has a strong dealer and distribution network where they promote only Target's products and the company provides the best training to its sales team to communicate with the customers and sell more products.
Weakness: Apart from the strengths, the Target Corporation also has some of the weaknesses, that are listed in the below points,
a. When compared with Walmart, Target is a little expensive when it comes to groceries segment. As per the report, Target charges 15% more than Walmart.
b. Target has little or no presence in the international market. It had failed in expansion to other countries.
c. Target spend less on Research and Development as compared with other leading organization in retail sectors.
d. Target had an issue of Data breach in 2014, where 70 million customers' data was stolen. Due to that, Target faced multiple suits in the US. That affected the customer confidence for the stores.
e. Target has a large portion of suppliers from other countries, this increases business risk in case of any political or economical crises in the future.
Opportunities: The various opportunities that Target has are listed in the below points:
a. Target is working on a Private label brand for various product categories. This can help Target to differentiate with other competitors and expand its business.
b. Target has an e-commerce platform and has a lot of attractiveness from the youth. It can attract a large amount of traffic to its online store due to having a huge loyal customer range.
c. Target has a lot of opportunities from its newly launched sales channels such as e-commerce, same-day delivery, small neighborhood stores, that can increase Target revenue in the future.
d. There are opportunities to open more stores in the US and at international locations that can help Target to become an international brand and can increase its profitability.
e. Due to declining middle-class income in the US, Target can attract those customers who are looking for discount deals and lower prices for products.
Threats: In below points, we will discuss various threats of the Target Corporation:
a. The products and items are sold by Target are similar to their competitors and it provides a higher price. That could create issues in the future.
b. The competition in the retails sector is growing and more companies are entering this market.
c. The customer preference is changing towards online shopping. Even though Target has its online channels to purchase but the main business model of Target is Brick and Mortar store. This can affect the business in the future.
d. Target is not able to differentiate its product line and business model from time to time, that can affect its future business as customer needs different products and business model that makes their shopping fun.
e. The retail business has low barriers to enter new companies although it is a capital intensive business model. Any new company can enter into the retail sector with competitive prices and can reduce the market share of Target.