- Retailer's new GenAI-powered chatbot, Store Companion, is
designed to make team members' jobs easier and enhance the shopping
experience
- The tool is scheduled to roll out to hundreds of thousands
of team members across Target's nearly 2,000 stores by August
- Target will continue to test and develop new GenAI
applications that accelerate its business, empower its team and
support its future growth
MINNEAPOLIS, June 20,
2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Target Corporation (NYSE:
TGT) today announced plans to roll out a new generative artificial
intelligence (GenAI) tool to team members at all of its nearly
2,000 stores by August, becoming the first major retailer to share
that it is bringing this technology to its store team members
across the U.S. The tool, called Store Companion, is a
GenAI-powered chatbot designed by Target that can answer on-the-job
process questions, coach new team members, support store operations
management and more.
Store Companion's goal is to make the teams' jobs easier and
allow them to work more quickly and efficiently, offering faster
service and deeper guest engagement to make the shopping experience
even better. The initiative is part of Target's broader strategic
approach to using GenAI across its business to empower its team,
enhance the guest experience and support the company's long-term
growth.
"We know technology will continue to play an outsized role in
the future of retail — for our team members, our guests and our
business. With that in mind, we're continually experimenting with
new tools to make it even easier for our team to do their jobs and
to bring more of what guests love about shopping at Target to
life," said Brett Craig,
executive vice president and chief information officer, Target.
"The transformative nature of GenAI is helping us accelerate the
rate of innovation across our operations, and we're excited about
the role these new tools and applications will play in driving
growth."
How the Store Companion tool works
The Store Companion chatbot will be available as an app on store
team members' specially equipped handheld devices, providing
immediate answers to their questions about processes and
procedures. For example, team members can input prompts like "How
do I sign a guest up for a Target Circle Card?" and "How do I
restart the cash register in the event of a power outage?" and
receive instructions and resources in seconds. The tool also serves
as a store process expert and coach, helping new and seasonal team
members learn on the job.
Testing, learning and improving the tool
"Generative AI is game-changing technology and Store Companion
will make daily tasks easier and enable our team to respond to
guests' requests with confidence and efficiency,"
said Mark Schindele,
executive vice president and chief stores officer, Target. "The
tool frees up time and attention for our team to serve guests with
care and to create a shopping destination that invites discovery,
ease and moments of everyday joy."
To develop this best-in-class resource for its store team
members, Target's in-house technology team used real frequently
asked questions and process documents from its store teams across
the U.S. The team worked quickly, taking the project from its
initial testing phase to planned rollout in just six months. Target
is currently piloting the tool at about 400 stores, using the
teams' feedback to improve the experience ahead of the chainwide
rollout.
Early feedback from pilot teams indicates that Store Companion
is positively impacting their daily work.
"We're hearing great feedback from our team about the new app,"
said Jake Seaquist, store
director at one of the pilot stores in Champlin, Minn. "Streamlining day-to-day tasks
goes a long way with our team members and adds up to more time
spent with guests and a better guest experience across the
store."
Since the pilot began, experienced team members have been
sharing their expertise and adding materials to help shape the
tool.
The power of AI across Target's business
Store Companion is the latest example of how Target is
accelerating its use of GenAI to create even more personalized and
intuitive experiences for team members and consumers. In addition
to Store Companion, the retailer plans to roll out another internal
GenAI tool in the coming months, starting with its headquarters
team members. When placed in the hands of Target's most important
asset, its team, this technology has the potential to transform
day-to-day tasks and empower team members to be more efficient and
spend time doing the most meaningful work.
Target also is using GenAI to elevate its digital experience for
consumers, including GenAI-powered product pages and search
capabilities that curate the most relevant results and make it even
easier for consumers to find everything they need when shopping on
Target.com. For example:
- Enhancements to thousands of product display pages on
Target.com this year have created more relevant, guest-friendly
experiences. Target is using GenAI to summarize reviews and make
the product descriptions on its site pages even more relevant to
help shoppers make confident purchase decisions. It also enhances
the items' product titles with more robust information to help
shoppers search and find the right items faster. More than 100,000
of these pages are expected to be complete by the end of the
summer.
- Guided Search has begun rolling out on Target.com,
which allows guests to search the site using conversational
language and discover even more of the assortment through
intelligent, curated results. For example, a search for "summer
party" will return a broader range of relevant items, from party
supplies and invitations to outdoor tableware, meat for grilling, a
variety of snack and drink ideas and more. It also will help
shoppers remember commonly forgotten items such as sun protection,
insect repellents, outdoor games and other essentials. This
enhanced search experience will continue to expand and will be
available to all consumers later this summer.
In addition to these enhancements, Target will continue testing
dozens of additional GenAI applications throughout 2024 and beyond.
The retailer remains committed to the safe and responsible use of
the technology and is focused on building a GenAI ecosystem that
will continue to drive its business and enhance the team member and
guest experiences while embracing the future of retail.
Miscellaneous
Statements in this release regarding the company's future
financial and operational performance and enhancements to its
technologies and capabilities are forward-looking statements within
the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995. Such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties which
could cause the company's results to differ materially. The most
important risks and uncertainties are described in Item 1A of the
company's Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended February 3, 2024. Forward-looking statements
speak only as of the date they are made, and the company does not
undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking
statement.
About Target
Minneapolis-based Target
Corporation (NYSE: TGT) serves guests at nearly 2,000 stores and
at Target.com, with the purpose of helping all families
discover the joy of everyday life. Since 1946, Target has given 5%
of its profit to communities, which today equals millions of
dollars a week. Additional company information can be found by
visiting the corporate website and press center.
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SOURCE Target Corporation