Target has been tinkering with using service in key areas within its stores to differentiate its offerings and drive sales. In consumer electronics, it partnered with Best Buy's Geek Squad. More recently, it has used its own trained staff to test a Beauty Concierge program.
Respondents to a June poll on RetailWire were largely positive (65 percent) that Target's test of beauty consultants would eventually lead to a chain-wide rollout of the Concierge concept. Now comes word that the discount chain is testing a baby section with trained staff at 10 stores in Illinois.
"We kind of are a store for families, and particularly young families, and we just think there is further opportunity to capture a larger share of their wallet," Trish Adams, senior vice president of merchandising at Target, told Reuters.
The test locations in Illinois carry the same items as other Targets with the one difference being staff on hand to assist shoppers. The idea is to give Target's baby departments more of a specialty shop feel. The chain expects to make changes as it learns from the test.
