Target is reportedly growing its same-day delivery options as the war for speedy shipping heats up
- Target will expand its same-day delivery service, Shipt, to all major categories this year.
- Currently, the retailer offers Shipt services for 55,000 products.
- This announcement is yet another example of how Target and other retailers are doubling down on an omnichannel approach.
Target is once again doubling down on its online order capabilities.
The retailer is unrolling same-day delivery for all of its major product categories in 2019, according to the Star Tribune. Currently, Target offers the service for 55,000 products - mostly groceries and other essentials.
That's largely thanks to Shipt, a delivery service that Target acquired for $550 million last year. Shipt launched in November 2014 in the city of Birmingham, Alabama. Company founder Bill Smith told CNBC that Target representatives first approached him about buying his business in 2017.
Target did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment.
Although Shipt is now a subsidiary of Target, it's still run as an independent company. Shipt subscriptions sell for $49 a year through Target - a $50 discount. Shipt's website promises that its customers' Target orders "will arrive in as soon as one hour."
Target's expansion of its Shipt services are only another sign pointing to the necessity of an omnichannel approach to business. Target and other retailers are increasingly focused on meeting the customer's specific preferences when it comes to getting them their purchases.
The retail chain also removed the order minimum on the majority of its online purchases for the holidays and expanded its online-order-fulfillment capabilities within its stores.
These different strategies can also be viewed as Target's answer to the speedy shipping options offered by Amazon, which offers two-day, one-day, and same-day shipping on certain items for Prime members. Amazon's rise has had an outsize impact on retail, as competitors strive to avoid falling behind in an increasingly digital industry.