Target picks L.A. as innovation hub

Twenty-five Los Angeles-area Target stores will be the crucible of innovating its shopping experience, the company announced Wednesday on its blog, A Bullseye View.

Target’s new LA25 initiative is aimed at testing 50 of the retailer’s enhancements and changes to presentation and service (with some behind-the-scenes innovations) in a single market environment.

One of the areas that Target is looking to improve customer experience is by bringing in the experts to help consumers. In particular the company’s Beauty Concierge service will be implemented in LA25 stores. With Beauty Concierge, shoppers will have access to beauty enthusiasts who will help make the most of their beauty aisle visit and showcase the company’s makeup, skin care and hair care picks.

Target is looking to allow customers to encounter experts across the sales floor by adding Baby Advisor services in LA25 stores, as well as a digital service ambassador — a Target employee who will help customers with the company’s mobile app its mobile coupon platform Cartwheel.

LA25 Target stores will also see refurbished sales floors with new signs and display concepts. Furniture and other products will be displayed in vignettes that show how the products might look in a shopper’s home. The displays will also feature online-only products that give customer a glimpse at the company’s online offerings. Target said that it would also be testing radio-frequency identification technology to cut down on time spent looking for misplaced products and work to improve its curbside pickup option.

Besides the in-store changes, it would be implementing supply chain and backroom enhancements that would improve customer experiences.

The first wave of stores will be refurbished and updated in the coming weeks, and the second will get a makeover in spring 2016.