In February 2019, Target launched Target Plus™, a new marketplace to host an assortment of select, third-party products on Target.com. Unlike Amazon and Walmart Marketplace, Target Plus partners are exclusively invited to sell products on the platform. By carefully selecting which merchants to host on Target Plus, Target is taking measures to ensure that any third-party item listed for consumers to purchase is authentic, high-quality, and compliant with stringent product standards.
Target’s commitment to offering trusted, curated products is in response to customer issues with other digital marketplaces related to fraudulent, defective, or otherwise offensive items that result in negative customer experiences. Target plans to only onboard a handful of merchants per category. An important distinguishing factor of Target Plus is that multiple merchants may not list the same Universal Product Code (UPC). This policy is intended to avoid having competing listings for the same item on Target.com and to ensure that items are of the highest quality and are being sold and shipped from trusted sources.
According to Target’s Q4 earnings for 2020, Target’s overall comparable sales were up 19.3% year-over-year, with digital sales rising an impressive 145% over 2019’s reported numbers. While this increase in digital sales can be partially attributed to the trend of sales moving from physical to digital as a result of COVID-19, Target’s efforts to implement a credible third-party channel is impressive considering national forecasts indicate that sales will continue to favor the digital marketplace model going forward.
“Guests look to Target for great products. With Target Plus, we aim to give them easy access to even more great products by partnering with best-in-class specialty and national brands that will help guests save and get more done in just one stop to Target.com.” —Rick Gomez, CMO, Target
The goal with Target Plus is to seamlessly integrate third-party products with Target’s internally hosted items. Since Target Plus items are held to the same product and shipping standards as items sold directly by Target, the qualities that distinguish a merchant’s listing from one of Target’s own are subtle. In the image shown below, you will see where the circled section shows the merchant details for this Target Plus item:
With its unique philosophy and growing number of merchants on the platform, Target Plus presents a promising and unique opportunity for sellers and shoppers alike. CommerceHub is proud to host Target Plus integrations for merchants who have been invited to the marketplace, and we’re excited to continue to support the platform’s growth in the coming years.
If you’d like to learn more, please visit Successfully Sell on Target Plus with CommerceHub.
