Target corporation was first launched in 1902 by George. D. Dayton with the name Dayton dry goods. The company had quality and dependable merchandise and practiced fair pricing. Dayton developed a chain of department stores with the vision of buying more and paying less, they wanted to combine the best of the fashion world with the best of the discount world. They tried to make shopping fun for customers by creating easy-to-shop displays, fast check out.
In 1960, Dayton decided to convert into a mass-market chain discount store providing various merchandise for consumers with quality experiences. Target was able to achieve this mission in a few years and they became one of the largest chain stores in the United States, they later opened shares to the public through initial public offering and had more than 75 stores. Target supermarkets provided essential goods needed daily, fashion goods, grocery stores, and also had an online business.
In 2014, Target had acquired 1,793 stores and 40 distribution centers with 347,000 employees, target was the second-largest discount store in the United States in 2013 with a revenue of over $7.2 billion, earnings before tax of $4.2 billion, and $1.97 billion in net earnings and a market share of 2.5%. The online stores launched in 1999 with an assortment of goods only present online and not available in their stores, they collaborated with different designers to design a variety of fashion goods for the platform, due to intense competition in the United States, target decided to open City target and target express in 2010 to expand their business into urban areas targeting office workers, residents and students, they aimed to meet their consumers who could not make it down to the stores, they targeted the 13% that were willing but due to various circumstances could not meet up. This helped target meet up with sales and generate profit, they decided to make this new trend in other states.
In 2013, Target suffered a data breach where an intruder uploaded malware into their systems and stole customers’ information, information of credit and debit cards of almost 70 million consumers, expenses spent was amounting to $148 million, this affected the sales of the organization.
Target decided to branch into Canada since there were already similarities in culture and the closeness of Canada, this was announced in 2011, they had plans to launch 133 stores and 3 distribution centers, target invested $4 billion, they purchased stores and invested $11 million in each store. The US population was nine times bigger than that of Canada’s and they spent more on retail outlets more than Canada, although the population of Canada was growing at a rate of 1.3% and they had brand awareness in Canada, Competitors and consumers were awaiting the arrival of Target in Canada
Target encountered some problems in Canada, they were having operational challenges which led to poor sales and profitability in the Canada, the competition was high due to other organizations moving in, they also changed systems, they used a new system which caused issues for the organization in Canada.
In a bid to change the direction of things, the manager reduced price brought in varieties of goods, new designs, and renovation of the company which allowed and boosted sales.
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