Target’s Mobile App Gets Indoor Mapping, Interactive Black Friday Maps

Target has teamed up with an indoor mapping technology company called Point Inside to debut in-store maps in its mobile app that show where items are located as a pin on the map – similar to the navigation maps consumers are using today to route their way around town. The feature, which is live now in the Target app, will also help customers during the upcoming Black Friday sales, as specialized maps showing deals and dealbusters will be provided.

These, along with features like shopping lists, type-ahead and auto-complete have been added to the updated app, which now supports checkout with Apple Pay, as well.

The retailer announced last month that it was planning to update its mobile apps in the “coming weeks,” describing the makeover then as a complete revamp. With the Point Inside technology, customers can build shopping lists that can help them find the right aisle, check to see if products are available at their local store and find products inside the store as they walk around.

The Minneapolis-headquarter retailer is still rebuilding its image following the massive hack which took place over the 2013 shopping season, exposing 40 million credit card numbers and 70 million addresses, phone numbers and other pieces of personal information.

But one place where its business shines is on mobile. The company’s apps are fairly successful – its couponing-focused Cartwheel app is ranked #10 in the Lifestyle section on iTunes, for example, and generally holds a ranking in the Top 100 Overall apps. Its flagship app is highly ranked, too, at #22 in Lifestyle on iTunes.

Additionally, the company has dedicated apps for its registry, wish list, shopping from magazines, and an entertainment-focused streaming movies app called Target Ticket, among others. And soon, it’s rolling out an app for its Pharmacy, the retailer says.

Target is a big win for Point Inside, which also counts customers like Lowe’s and Meijer as using its indoor mapping technology. The company’s SaaS (software-as-a-service) platform, “StoreMode,” not only helps retailers map their products on the floor, while enhancing other features like shopping lists, search, and recommendations, it also provides the retailers with anonymized insights about their customers’ path to purchase to help them with store planning, floor plans, merchandising and more.

That platform will see nearly 3 billion shopper interactions on over 100 million devices by year-end, Point Inside says.

Target’s new apps are live now, and cover the retailers 1,801 U.S. stores.