Targets mobile app strategy will undergo a significant change, starting this summer. The retailerannounced this week it will soon combine the functionality of its Cartwheel savings app with its main shopping app, in preparation for an eventual Cartwheel shutdown. The Target app will also receive a notable upgrade this year, adding support for an indoor map that shows your location in the store, along with the nearby Cartwheel deals, in addition to support for mobile payments. According to Target, the decision to merge its apps into one is a result of customer feedback. Shoppers wanted an easier way to access all of what Target has to offer from one destination, not two. Target isnt the only retailer to streamline its mobile app strategy. A couple of years ago,Ebay shut down its wider suite of apps (Fashion, Motors, and Valet), to return their functionality to Ebays main app, for example. Meanwhile, other retailers likeWalmart,Kohls, andCVS all of which have their own mobile payments service offer their payments and savings features within their main shopping app, not in a separate one. The retailer hadannounced its plans to launch a mobile payments service earlier this year, but had not revealed when that would be beyond sometime this year. Thats still the ETA for the mobile payments portion of this transition and, in fact, it could be pushed back to January, if the team needs the time. We also already knew that Targets initial entry into this space would be focused on supporting its Target REDcard holders, rather than a broader strategy that would allow for other forms of payment. The REDcard is Targets own credit card, offering shoppers 5 percent off of all their purchases. The company declined to say how many cardholders it has, but noted they accounted for 24 percent of last years sales. With Cartwheel, consumers today add deals to an in-app shopping list, then show their barcode at checkout to save on the items theyve purchased that match the available discounts. Following Cartwheels integration with the main Target app, this process will continue except that, with support for mobile payments, shoppers will be able to both save and pay by having that barcode scanned just once.
Though Targets main app has offered a store map and aisle finder functionality for years, the ability for it to track your location and show you deals which will begin rolling out this summer are new. We understand that location-tracking will be enabled through the use bluetooth beacons. Beacons, which use bluetooth for positioning, are how the Target app will be able to provide a
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GPS-like experience for its apps indoor map. Thatssomething Target began testing a couple of years ago, in partnership with beacon provider Estimote. That test wrapped up some time ago, we understand. Instead, Target is updating all stores with new, energy-efficient LED lighting, and will be installing fixtures that have beacons built in. The company isnt disclosing the name of its vendor partners, but may be working with more than one on this effort. The plan is to have several hundred stores updated with the beacon-enabled LED lights this summer, and the full chain by the holidays. Presumably, once Targets main app becomes the de facto location for shopping in-store, online, finding deals, and making payments, it could then be updated to include other newer features, if Target chose. One of those potentially could be support for its next-day home delivery service, Target Restock, which willalso launch a pilot test this summer. Read more:https://techcrunch.com
Target and Cartwheel apps to merge starting this summer, mobile payments and improved maps to follow To read more on this topic click here
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