Target’s Shipt Will Expand To Deliver All Major Product Categories

Target has announced that Shipt will expand next year to offer same-day delivery of “all major product categories.”

Target acquired Shipt last year in a $550 million cash acquisition. At the time, the retailer said it will use its stores, along with Shipt’s proprietary technology platform and community of shoppers, to bring same-day delivery to Target customers across the United States.

Currently, Shipt offers same-day delivery on more than 55,000 grocery and household items, as well as select electronics, toys and other products. Shipt tells TechCrunch that next year it will expand to include all major product categories, including apparel, towels and more. However, the company would not disclose how many products would be added or when in 2019 the expansion would take place.

Launched in 2014, Shipt has been rapidly growing its membership-based grocery marketplace and same-day delivery platform. Target recently revealed that the service is now available in more than 200 U.S. markets across 46 states, and it has seen its membership numbers triple since joining Target. Shipt has also hired more than 375 new employees in its Birmingham, Alabama and San Francisco offices.

In addition to same-day delivery, Target also has a Drive Up service, which was scheduled to have 1,000 stores offering it by the holidays. The service allows customers to order products through Target’s app and drive to the store, where employees deliver the orders to customers’ cars, with orders usually ready within an hour. The retailer has seen a 10 percent boost in orders with the new service, which has been popular with families.

Target’s rival Walmart has rolled out its own version of same-day delivery through a partnership with last-mile delivery provider Deliv. It also has its own curbside pickup, where after orders are placed online, the customer then meets with a personal shopper at the store at a scheduled time.