Target Spends $550M To Buy Shipt, Closes Last Mile Delivery Gap

Target announced Wednesday (Dec. 13) it had completed a $550 million cash acquisition of Shipt, an online same-day delivery platform that is growing in popularity.

In a press release, the retailer said it will leverage its stores and Shipt’s proprietary technology platform and community of shoppers to bring same-day delivery to Target customers around the country. The purchase “significantly accelerates” its digital fulfillment efforts, and will bring same-day delivery to approximately half of its stores by the early part of next year.

The shipping option will be offered at the majority of Target’s stores and in all the major markets before the 2018 holiday season. Same-day delivery will apply to groceries, essentials, home, electronics and other products, and the discount retailer will expand the list of products included in the service over time. In fact, same-day delivery will include all major product categories at Target by the end of 2019.

“We laid out an ambitious strategic agenda in early 2017, which included a focus on giving our guests a number of convenient ways to shop with Target — whether it’s ordering online and picking up in one of our stores, driving up to pick up an order or taking advantage of services like our new Restock program,” said John Mulligan, executive vice president and chief operating officer for Target. “With Shipt’s network of local shoppers and their current market penetration, we will move [shipping speeds] from days to hours, dramatically accelerating our ability to bring affordable same-day delivery to guests across the country.”

Shipt was founded in 2014 and is rapidly growing its membership-based grocery marketplace and same-day delivery platform. The company relies on a network of more than 20,000 personal shoppers in more than 72 markets who fulfill orders from different retailers and deliver the goods within hours.

“Partnering with Target and the national scale they provide allows Shipt to further accelerate our growth, bringing our service to more people in more markets across the country,” said Bill Smith, Shipt’s founder and CEO. “We’ll continue growing our marketplace and membership base, working with a variety of retailers to drive scale and efficiencies. We look forward to introducing Target guests to the convenience of our same-day delivery services.”