Twitter/ @gadisgii
Target's addictive shopping experience.
- Target is known for its addictive shopping experience and frequently portrayed in memes online as shoppers joke about going into a store to make one purchase but ending up buying far more.
- Though it lags behind its competitors in terms of e-commerce, the 1,800 store chain has cracked the code on how to make its customers buy more once they're in stores.
- Analysts say this is partly because of its in-store services and treasure hunt experience.
The age-old saying goes that if you walk into Target to buy one thing, you'll almost certainly leave with 100 more.
Because of this, the internet is awash with memes and tweets joking about how impossible it is to leave the store without a full basket.
Twitter/ @gadisgii
Target's addictive shopping experience.
"I went to target on Friday for cat food and I left with $200 worth of stuff," one Reddit user wrote online.
In fact, it's such a well-known symptom of shopping at Target, that the so-called "Target Effect" even has its own Urban Dictionary entry.
Twitter/Target
But this doesn't happen by chance. Target has a cult following of fans, including Beyonce, that are lured into buying more than they plan to, thanks to clever marketing, the positioning of products in the store, and the treasure hunt-like experience of shopping there
Despite this, the retailer continues to come under pressure as consumers shift online, an area where it significantly lags behind its peers. Target's online store currently generates around $4 billion in sales annually versus $23-plus billion at Walmart and $60-plus billion for Amazon in North America, according to investment research firm Morningstar.
Target has had mixed results in the past two years - three-quarters of negative same-store sales in the fiscal year of 2016 were followed by three consecutive quarters of positive same-store sales growth in the fiscal year of 2017. It is now investing heavily in its e-commerce platform and focusing on rolling out smaller store locations in urban areas to reach a new customer base.
Find out how Target is enticing you to fill up your shopping carts below: