Dive Brief:
- Target’s express self-checkout lanes, which limit customers to 10 items or less, are earning high customer satisfaction scores among customers, according to executives during a Q1 2024 earnings call last week. Same-day pickup options for digital orders are also scoring high.
- Express self-checkout, which rolled out in March, drove higher customer satisfaction across multiple metrics in Q1 2024 compared to Q1 2023, according to EVP, CFO and COO Michael Fiddelke.
- Target’s drive-up services, which let customers pick up online purchases, order Starbucks drinks and make returns from their cars, also garnered positive feedback. NPS scores for drive-up returns in particular topped the program’s “sky high” rating from the first quarter last year, Fiddelke said during the call.
Dive Insight:
By rolling out its changes to self-checkout while expanding its staffed lanes, Target was able to grow customer satisfaction.
Leaders worked with store teams to “ensure they are consistently providing adequate staffing at our full-service lanes” during the express self-checkout rollout, Fiddelke said.
As a result, satisfaction regarding the quality of interactions with associates at checkout grew alongside satisfaction with wait times, according to Fiddelke.
Cashiers are essential for assisting shoppers in self-checkout and keeping enough traditional registers open for customers who aren’t comfortable with self-checkout, according to Kathy Risch, SVP of shopper insights and thought leadership at Acosta Group.
“A positive human interaction at the end of the store visit can make a customer feel more connected and loyal — something they wouldn't get from a machine, computer or smartphone,” Risch told CX Dive in an email.
Associates also helped drive the success of the relaunched Target Circle loyalty program, which added more than 1 million new customers during the quarter. Workers engaged with in-store customers who wanted help understanding the new benefits, Fiddelke said.
Target’s CX efforts weren’t limited to associate interactions. The retailer is using generative AI to improve product recommendations and search results across its digital platforms, according to EVP and Chief Growth Officer Christina Hennington.
Digital tools like the Target Circle app ultimately feed into the store experience, according to Hennington. Shoppers can use the app to plan a shopping trip, compare products, or help them navigate physical stores.
“Whether they are choosing to walk through our physical or digital front door, we want to provide the inspiring and welcoming Target experience our guests expect from us,” Hennington said during the call.
