Target Significantly Expands Subscription Shopping Service
By Hannah Ash, contributing writer
As Amazon continues to innovate as a way to get ahead of the pack, Target’s upgraded subscription service is a new rival to the online retailer’s Subscribe & Save service. Since last September, Target has offered a subscription service making select items available to customers. Though the majority of items available through Target’s current program have targeted parents who seek the convenience of a subscription service, the retailer plans to take the number of available items from the current selection of 200 to over 1,500 products.
Jason Goldberger, senior VP of Target.com, states that the early incarnation of the subscription program has been a success, explaining that since the program began in September, more than 15 percent of items available in the service have been sold via subscription. Though Goldberger states, “Our focus is how to serve the Target guests, not look at a competitor,” it is clear Target’s subscription program takes a large cue from Amazon. The program will offer, for regularly scheduled home delivery, everything from socks to home office supplies. Similar to Amazon’s Subscribe & Save, Target subscribers can schedule deliveries in increments of four, six, eight, ten, and twelve weeks. Walmart has yet to get in on the action. In 2012, Walmart briefly rolled out a subscription snack program called “Goodies” but cancelled it after about a year in beta; no other plans for subscription services have been announced.
Subscription shopping is here to stay. As Amazon and now Target take subscription shopping to the next level, smaller retailers and startups also are looking at how they can participate. For example,startup ePantry, which launched at the end of 2013, offers shoppers a large selection of eco-friendly products. The Honest Company and Birchbox are two others founded on the subscription model. Goldberger states that the rapid expansion of Target’s subscription program is driven by customer demand.