Target (NYSE:TGT) is dangling a new perk to get shoppers to swing by its stores: customers can make returns without leaving their car.
The curbside-returns service, which began last week at roughly a quarter of Target’s nearly 2,000 stores nationwide, will be available across the chain by the end of summer.
Target is sweetening its curbside-pickup service, Drive Up, to attract and retain customers as the retailer braces for a potential sales slowdown and tries to hang on to pandemic-fueled gains. Total annual revenue grew by about $31 billion – or nearly 40% – from fiscal 2019 to 2022.
Now, as shoppers become more budget conscious and buy fewer discretionary items, Target said it expects comparable sales to range from a low single-digit decline to a low single-digit increase this fiscal year. At an investor day in February, it projected full-year earnings per share of between $7.75 and $8.75, below Wall Street’s expectations of $9.23 per share, according to StreetAccount estimates.
The company hopes convenient perks like curbside returns will boost customer loyalty and jolt sales.
“Any time we remove friction from our guest experience it benefits the guests and benefits Target because they deepen their relationship with us,” Chief Stores Officer Mark Schindele said. “We’ve shown that with Drive Up overall. Guests try that service, they love it and then they shop our stores more often.”
TGT shares demurred 99 cents to $156.62.
