Target’s New App Asks Customers For Help With Business Model

There’s a new app in town, and it’s got Target written all over it. The giant retailer has developed Studio Connect, an app used to connect Target innovators to the customers who will ultimately purchase their products. The app is an invitation-only initiative, allowing only a tiny fraction of its 30 million shoppers on board, and those shoppers get to help shape Target into the store they most desire.

The speed of product development today outpaces marketing efforts, so this app allows for a more simultaneous research and development approach. This is not just for tech-savvy adults either. In a recent PR move, Target created a children’s clothing line from the drawings submitted by a grade school girl, and the photo op alone was a huge success. When the girl wore the clothing to school the next day, it ignited critical word-of-mouth engagement, as well.

Each Target designer has a unique Studio Connect account and can interact with customers, asking questions that often spark creativity, offering an unprecedented continual feedback loop for Target designers and marketers.

The company reports that a desire for inclusiveness also motivated the app’s development. Allowing the retailer to interact with populations that might never see a focus group invitation means the opportunity to give voice to and meet the special needs of individuals like those on the Autism Spectrum. In fact, Target has expanded its Cat & Jack brand with sensory-friendly and adaptive apparel, and these specialized items come with a regular price tag, as part of Target’s commitment to inclusiveness.

The already beloved retailer reports a desire to put their customers at the center of all that they do, and as a result of this engagement initiative via Studio Connect, the company gets to make products better the first time around.