Mobile mindset evident at Target

New functionality such as interactive maps, enhanced list-making and search capabilities are designed to make it easier than ever to shop Target.

Working with shopper engagement solutions provider Point Inside, Target has upgraded its mobile capabilities ahead of a holiday season in which shoppers will be more digitally engaged than ever.

“We want to build mobile experiences that Target guests will love,” said Alan Wizemann, VP of product for Target.com and Mobile. “We believe the new shopping lists and maps make it easier than ever to shop Target. While we’ve got a lot more mobile innovation to come, we look forward to guest feedback on these new experiences so that we can continue to refine and enhance them.”

The latest app upgrades give Target customers the ability to more easily build shopping lists, find product locations and determine item availability at their local store. For example, interactive maps overlay item locations as a pin on the store map, making it easier for customers to find products as they shop.

New shopping list functionality provide a product’s aisle location when a guest is in store and link directly to the new, interactive maps. Type-ahead, auto-complete functionality allows customers to quickly add items to their shopping lists. And for Black Friday, the app features interactive maps that provide store layouts and doorbuster locations for featured merchandise.

The new lists and maps are part of Target’s recently announced overhaul of its iPhone app, which now also features a simpler navigation, more intuitive user experience and one-touch checkout for online purchases with Apple Pay. Target also has recently revamped its desktop and mobile websites, and re-launched its iPad app with user generated content and inspiration from Pinterest and Instagram.

Helping Target on the mobile side of things was Point Inside where CEO and co-founder Josh Marti said, “mobile’s influence on in-store retail is rapidly expanding and we believe that the best retailers will benefit greatly by satisfying customer demand for mobile-assisted in-store shopping.” Point Inside is delivering its services to Target via an enterprise-grade mobile shopping engagement SaaS platform called StoreMode.

The mobile engagement platform will be accessed by nearly three billion shopper interactions on more than 100 million devices through the mobile apps of Point Inside’s top retail partners by the end of 2014, according to the company.