Low price is not a magic weapon, how does Target, the retail giant, compete with Walmart?

Author: Laura Roper (USA), translated by Song Jie et al.
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2007-01-01
Features: When shopping in other stores, I always feel a sense of discomfort with the urgency to buy and leave quickly. But at Target, it feels like: "Just browse around and relax." — Target customers
If you have ever shopped at Target, you might have the same feeling—wandering along the aisles for one or two hours, enjoying the high-quality goods. Clean environment and perfect service. But affordable products are not the only reason that sets Target apart from the competition. Their "human touch"—something that almost all other discount stores lack today—keeps drawing people back to Target again and again.
In 1962, Target was founded by Dayton's in Minnesota. It gained widespread popularity in the mid-1990s and has continued to thrive to this day. Over the past 40 years, this target-logo has formed a following among American consumers through its unique products, creative store designs, unforgettable branding, and extraordinary charitable donations. Through exclusive product collaborations with designers like Michael Graves, Moisés Nú?ez, and Todd Oldham, "Target"—as some like to call this one of America's most profitable retail companies—has made its frugal style of offering both affordable and designer goods fashionable.
In this book, award-winning journalist Laura Roper uses vivid storytelling, candid interviews, and in-depth research to skillfully reveal the strategy, motivation, and leadership behind the Target phenomenon. She explores how Target achieved such remarkable success. You will follow Roper as she goes behind the checkout counters, along the aisles, and takes a close look: how the seeds of Target's unique retail culture were sown in its distinctive history. How Target redefined the concept of a discount store, carving out its own path and growing under the shadow of industry giant Walmart. How Target, through best-in-class operations in management, promotion, marketing, operations, and corporate donations, became one of the most successful retailers of the new millennium.
This book offers the first in-depth analysis of Target's extraordinary success as America's most fashionable discount store, providing insightful and engaging perspectives. It provides a detailed introduction to how Target bridged the gap between quality and cost, and in the process, created a highly successful concept.