Target Evolves its Visual Merchandising

Target is deep into a repositioning that involves everything from adjusting product assortment to innovating with digital and mobile technology. Amid the changes, some of the most visible upgrades are taking place in the store as the retailer also adjusts its approach to merchandising.One area where the repositioning is clearly noticeable is the grocery department, which accounts for about $20 billion of Target’s $73 billion in annual sales. The mass merchant has spent the better part of the last year thinking through an ongoing food makeover that aligns its food aisles closer to that of a specialty grocer with a focus on organic, gluten-free, artisanal and increasingly local products.In select stores, the mass merchant has been rolling out a series of small tests – that will continue well into 2016 – as it works to figure out how exactly to turn grocery into less of an afterthought and more of a trip-driver. Executives have indicated that if they can drive each shopper to make one more visit to a Target store every three months, it would translate to $2.5 billion in additional sales a year.The final strategy is not yet apparent, but a SuperTarget in Minnetonka, MN – not far from the retailer’s Minneapolis headquarters – offers some clues. The location recently underwent a $10 million remodeling, the Star Tribune reported, and is prime testing ground for new ideas.The grocery department doesn’t look radically different, but there are significant upgrades that give the store a fresh, upscale feel. New fixtures include kiosks on wheels positioned both upfront and in the perimeter aisle. The kiosks stock items based on a unifying theme: One might display seasonal snacks ranging from apple-cider-flavored cookie mix to pumpkin-and-nut mixes, while another stocks boxes of pasta, premium olive oil and white bowls as well as sleek cooking utensils.Cross-merchandising the various ingredients intended for a meal as well as the implements to prepare and serve it is an idea that is also present throughout the rest of the grocery aisles. The pasta aisle also stocks wooden spoons, for example.The retailer has even built coolers into some endcap displays to stock perishable items such as meat and cheese right next to cans of beans and bottles of seasonings. Meanwhile, on the perimeter wall, Target has replaced a section of refrigerated displays with non-refrigerated shelves to stock granola and other breakfast bowl add-ons right next to yogurt.Throughout the grocery department, new aisle signage employs whimsical phrases such as “ok to crave” to identify better-for-you products, “livin’ local” to spotlight locally sourced items, and “we dig organic” to highlight certified products. The Minnetonka store is one of 450 Target locations boasting a new, bigger assortment of gluten-free, organic and healthier items. The store also stocks a robust selection of bulk nuts, trail mixes and grains in self-serve bins, while produce is laid out in wood-paneled receptacles and wicker barrels for a fresh-from-the-farm atmosphere.In-store presentation is a major prong of the strategy set forth by chief executive officer Brian Cornell, who took the reins in 2014 and was tasked with ending a multiyear slump. His efforts to upgrade visual merchandising do not stop at the grocery department.In the apparel department, for example, Target has rolled out mannequins to roughly 1,400 of its 1,800 stores. Fortune reported that, according to Cornell, sales of the items featured on the mannequins have increased by 30%.More recently, the retailer has begun adding lifestyle vignettes to the home furnishings department, similar to those used in traditional department stores. They will be in 262 stores in time for the holidays. Items on the vignettes sell three to four times better than the average for the category, according to Fortune.The latest focus is on the area right inside store entrances. Target is replacing “The One Spot” that held items in the $1 range and had been positioned to compete with the growing threat from dollar stores. The new concept, dubbed “Bullseye’s Playground,” still merchandises kids’ gift items and seasonal merchandise, but the remodel serves as an upgrade meant to up the fun factor. Replicas of Target’s canine mascot, Bullseye, sit atop each display in the Playground – and in some cases literally wag their tails – while guarding an assortment that will be swapped every eight weeks to encourage discovery.Where the goal was previously to emphasize the “Pay Less” portion of the retailer’s “Expect More. Pay Less” brand promise, the retailer is rethinking the upfront department, the grocery department and the rest of the store while focusing on an enhanced shopper experience.

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