Target is ramping up its same-day delivery efforts, following news of Amazon’s plans to increase Prime speeds and Walmart’s recent launch of free, next-day delivery in select markets. This morning, Target announced it’s making it easier to shop its same-day selection directly from its website, with the deliveries powered by Shipt.
The retailer acquired grocery delivery service Shipt for $550 million in 2017, in order to accelerate its digital fulfillment efforts. Following the deal, Target has continued to offer same-day delivery through Shipt on grocery items and other day-to-day needs, like household, pet and baby items. While Shipt delivers for other local grocers and stores as well, Target’s prices in Shipt aren’t marked up.
However, until now, Target shoppers would have to go to the Shipt website or download the app to browse the same-day selection from Target. It wasn’t an integrated experience. That changes with today’s launch of a dedicated shopping section on Target.com, available at target.com/sameday.
Here, online shoppers can browse the 65,000 items offered for same-day delivery through Target.com, including groceries, household items, pet items, baby needs and even some apparel. They can also easily reorder items they’ve previously purchased, or search through specific categories for new things to order.
The Target.com same-day assortment is largely similar to what’s available through the Shipt app, we understand, with the exception of adult beverages, which are only available through Shipt in select markets.
The same-day shopping experience on Target.com offers a different look-and-feel from Shipt’s website — it’s not just a Target-branded wrapper around the Shipt website.
Target’s site offers clickable categories at the top of the page, like “Grocery,” “Household Essentials,” “Pets,” “Baby” and more, each with a colorful icon. Individual product pages also look like any other product page on Target.com with various options for pickup or delivery, as well as features for subscribing to regular purchases for a discount, or adding the item to a list or registry.
The key difference is that the delivery option is now “Same Day,” which wasn’t offered before. (A button to ship it through Target Restock, a next-day service, is also available if the order isn’t as urgent.)
At checkout, shoppers can choose to pay a flat $9.99 per delivery fee for same-day service or can instead opt for a four-week trial of a Shipt annual membership. If you choose the latter, the trial converts to a $99 per year membership after the free period ends, unless you cancel.
A Shipt membership additionally includes the option to shop from other local and national retailers. The app supports more than 60 retailers, but members only see those that are nearby.
The launch of the dedicated same-day selection on Target.com represents the first time Target shoppers without a Shipt membership could take advantage of same-day delivery for a fee. The option joins several other ways that Target lets people shop its site, including same-day store pickup, Drive Up (a curbside pickup service), next-day shipping through Target Restock, as well as traditional shipping.
For Target REDcard holders, there’s another perk with using the new same-day website — they’ll now be able to pay with REDcard to save 5% on purchases.
Plus, Target’s online shoppers can take advantage of weekly ad promotions, like “buy 3 items for a $5 Target GiftCard,” for example, which wasn’t possible in Shipt.
As on Shipt, Target.com’s same-day shoppers can edit or add items to their order up to an hour before their delivery, and save multiple addresses associated with their account.
“With same-day delivery now available directly within the Target.com experience, we’ve made it even easier for our guests to shop at Target – while still getting the great value, curated product assortment and helpful guest service they’ve come to expect,” said Dawn Block, Target Senior Vice President, Digital, in a statement.