Target Expands Personalized Loyalty Program

Target is expanding a loyalty pilot that aims to increase customers engagement while also providing the big-box retailer with advanced customer data.

The free Target Circle program touts “personalized perks” and allows users to earn 1% on every trip to redeem later, along with a 50% Shipt discount for the first year of membership and free next-day delivery on household essentials with Restock.

The pilot debuted in the Dallas area and is expanding to Charlotte, N.C.; Denver; Indianapolis; Kansas City, Mo.; and Phoenix.

Circle allows Target to collect shopper data on 75% of its customers who don't shop with the retailer’s credit card program Redcard, which it can use to create personalized offers, according to CNN. The program is also available to Redcard holders, but these customers do not earn the 1% rewards in addition to the 5% savings offered through the credit card program.

"This will help Target build a more complete picture of shoppers," Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData Retail told CNN, adding that it “gives customers a little incentive to go to Target.”

While Target Circle doesn’t offer the breadth of products available through Amazon Prime, it does have competitive qualities such as free membership and the ability to incorporate its perks with widely available brick-and-mortar shopping. 

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Additionally, Circle users earn votes to help direct where Target will donate its charity funds, which may deepen the program’s personal touch.

Rick Gomez, EVP, chief marketing officer and chief digital officer for Target, said that through the program, the retailer hopes to build deeper relationships with its guests and create a more personalized shopping experience “all while encouraging everyone to choose Target again and again.”