Target Channels Apple In Remodeled Electronics Departments

By Anna Rose Welch, Editorial & Community Director, Advancing RNA

Company hopes new Apple-like format will strengthen brick-and-mortar sales, enhance customer experience

Recently, several Target stores have begun boasting redesigned, minimalist-style electronics departments in order to give customers a much desired, more hands-on experience with the latest technology and to decrease showrooming. In recent years, companies like Apple and Best Buy have perfected the art of brightly lit tables and displays that encourage people to touch and directly experience items, a process which can encourage interaction and lead to more in-store sales.  

In the same vein, Target hopes that these remodeling efforts will provide customers with a better shopping experience in-store than they would have online. Not only are there rumors that these particular Target stores have increased technology department staff to provide better customer service, but the new store format that enables consumers to try the items puts the products into a customer’s hands faster than an online provider can deliver. According to Chris Christopher, an IHS analyst, remodeling this way is an important step towards creating “reverse showrooming.” Christopher says it is easier to check reviews and compare features online, but when it comes to receiving an item immediately, only a brick-and-mortar store can put the item into the customer’s hands right away. 

Will Mixed Reviews Lead To Mixed Results?

So far, reviews of the newly remodeled electronics departments have been mixed. For instance, while customers interviewed about the new department layout said they enjoyed handling and experimenting with the different products, there have been critiques about the way the minimalist design seems to discourage providing the customer with all the information they might need to make an educated purchase. Other experts are hesitant to accept the retailer’s expectations that remodeling could reverse showrooming and increase sales to the same extent as Apple. Consumerist reporters in particular, cite the fact that Apple stores have seen success with this design because its products are generally the same price in-store and online, which is not often the case with other retailers. Price optimization and channel-price alignment are essential for retailers to present customers with a consistent brand and message as they struggle to create an omni-channel experience.

However, online competition has not been overlooked by Target, which said it would be matching prices that customers find on Amazon.com, Walmart.com, BestBuy.com, and other online competitors, which could very well lead to more in-store purchases and reverse showrooming.   

This new hands-on layout is being tested in several Minneapolis locations. The company hasn’t made any announcements about how long it will be testing this new look or whether it will bring this remodeled design to its 1,800-plus stores nationwide. Analyst Amy Koo claims that the key to success for these revamped electronics departments ultimately depends on the retailer’s ability to be “more experimental and transformative by adding something that a consumer can’t accomplish online.” With the busy holiday season coming up, we should be able to see how the new electronics departments do relative to the older designs fairly quickly.

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