Dive Brief:
- Adding to its partnership, Target will deliver Starbucks food and beverages in its Drive Up curbside service at select locations, according to a Wednesday press release.
- Customers can place their Starbucks orders for curbside pickup within the Target app. They then notify the retailer that they’re on their way and have arrived, during which time a Starbucks employee will prepare the order and a Target employee will drop it off, according to the press release.
- The retailer has more than 1,700 Starbucks Cafés in its stores. Since early November, Starbucks with Drive Up launched at 240 Target stores in California, Minnesota, New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Texas, Washington and West Virginia.
Dive Insight:
Target initially began integrating the Starbucks with Drive Up app functionality late last year after shoppers requested the feature. The retailer then piloted the service this past summer. Now, Target is fleshing out the service and sees it as an enhancement of its same-day services.
Alongside its Starbucks pickup option, Target also added a “backup item function” earlier this year, enabling customers to choose substitute items for unavailable Drive Up and Order Pickup orders.
In addition to luring shoppers with Starbucks orders, Target has also been investing in operations as part of its $5 billion investment to grow its business. In March, the company said it planned to open 30 more locations in suburban and urban areas in Charleston, South Carolina; Times Square, New York; and other regions. It also wants to renovate 200 stores and open over 250 Ulta shop-in-shop locations by the end of this year.
Besides remodeling existing stores and opening new ones, Target unveiled a new 150,000-square-foot store concept earlier this month, about 20,000 square feet larger than its typical store. Though the retailer will focus on its large-store concept over the next few years, the company said it will also launch stores of other sizes.
