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Target announced<\/a> this morning it\u2019s now testing a next-day home delivery service called Target Restock. The service, which is currently being trialed with Target employees ahead of a customer-facing pilot this summer, is designed to offer an easy way to shop online for household essentials which will arrive the day after you place your order.<\/p>\n The move is clearly meant to compete with similar offerings\u00a0from rival retailers, like Amazon\u2019s Prime Now and its Prime Pantry service<\/a>, as well as Walmart\u2019s efforts<\/a>\u00a0in same-day grocery delivery and pickup. In addition, same-day grocery delivery is offered by third-parties like Instacart, Shipt, Peapod, Postmates and others, who work with local stores.<\/p>\n However, Target Restock is\u00a0focused on household items, beauty and personal care products, and dry goods \u2013 think, things like laundry detergent and paper towels. It\u2019s not getting into the complexities that come along with having to ship fresh and frozen items, including\u00a0refrigerated trucks, cooler bags, coordinated drop-off times, freezers in the back of stores, and more.<\/p>\n Target says the service is now in testing with staff at Target\u2019s headquarters, and will launch as a customer-facing pilot this summer. The service will be tested\u00a0in Target stores throughout the\u00a0Minneapolis-St. Paul\u00a0(Twin Cities) area.<\/p>\n Target Restock will initially only be open to those customers who are REDcard holders, the company notes. It has not yet decided if it will open it up more broadly to all\u00a0online shoppers at a later date.<\/p>\n \u201cFocusing on REDcard guests also allows us to build a more personalized experience for guests who take part in the pilot,\u201d a Target spokesperson explained. \u201cGuests will have the option to pay with REDcard \u2013 and receive the 5 percent discount \u2013 or use another card of their choice,\u201d they\u00a0said.<\/p>\n To use Restock, customers will\u00a0visit a dedicated online storefront for the service where they can shop over 8,000 products and add them to a box that will be shipped to their home for a flat fee.<\/p>\n The boxes Target offers for Restock can hold up to 45 pounds and will arrive the next day if the order is placed by 1:30 PM.<\/p>\n The flat fee has yet to be determined, but it\u2019s likely that it will be priced competitively with Amazon Pantry\u2019s $5.99 per box price point.<\/p>\n After the order is placed, existing Target personnel will fill the boxes with the necessary items and prepare them for shipping. Currently, Target is working\u00a0with UPS on Restock, but plans to test with various shipping providers going forward.<\/p>\n Target is arriving a bit late to the next-day delivery market for consumables. Without a product offering of its own in this space, the retailer could have risked losing customers to Amazon, Walmart, and to local grocery stores who partner with delivery providers like Instacart. However, a large number of customers head to Target stores today to pick\u00a0up everyday essential items, so even if it\u2019s late to market, it may\u00a0still be in a good\u00a0position to compete if and when the service becomes widely\u00a0available.<\/p>\n The company believes its assortment of products on Restock and its ability to ship from stores will help it better compete with Amazon Pantry and others. Target\u2019s own label brands are a draw for customers,\u00a0and could entice people to try Restock.<\/p>\n \u201cWe want to provide more options to shop Target, and we believe many guests will appreciate the ease of shopping all their favorite essentials online and the convenience of next-day delivery,\u201d a spokesperson said. \u201cTarget can provide industry-leading service and value with Target Restock thanks to our assortment and using stores to deliver orders faster than our rivals.<\/p>\n What\u2019s not yet known is how shifting those so-called \u201cTarget runs\u201d online will ultimately affect the retailer\u2019s bottom line.<\/p>\n