Target adds sortation centers in Chicago, Denver
Target is adding three new sortation centers in the next year — two in greater Chicago and one in the Denver metro, according to a post on the retailer’s website.
“Together with our six existing sortation centers across the country, these additions will mean an even better experience for even more guests now and in the years to come,” Target said, noting that sortation centers take orders packed in local stores and sort them quickly and efficiently for local deliveries.
“They are the next phase of our stores-as-hubs strategy, helping lower costs and creating efficiencies for our operations while increasing speed of delivery for our guests,” the retailer said. “That’s important given our digital sales have grown nearly $13 billion from 2019 to 2021, and our stores fulfilled more than 95% of our total sales in 2021.”
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Pointing out that rather than team members managing packing and sorting packages in a store’s backroom, Target added that sortation centers take on the sorting process, saving its store teams time and space so they can fulfill more orders and reach guests faster at a lower delivery cost.
“Plus, sortation centers allow our teams to easily scale to fulfill a growing number of orders, and consolidating orders and batching deliveries add ease for our carriers,” Target said. “And we do it all while staying focused on serving our guests no matter how they choose to shop with us.”
Target went on to say that it is always testing and learning to make these sortation centers work even harder for Target and its guests.
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The company cited its Minneapolis sortation center, stating that it was Target’s first test-and-learn grounds, and now handles nearly two-thirds of Target’s digital orders in the area.
“We started out delivering several hundred packages per day, and now can deliver tens of thousands on our busiest days with the help of more than 2,000 Shipt drivers, who deliver packages in their personal vehicles,” the retailer said. “Packages are picked up from our 43 Twin Cities stores twice daily and sorted at the center for pickup by Shipt drivers and our other carrier partners, who then deliver them to guests’ doors.”
Additionally, Target said that it is working with Shipt to pilot the use of large-capacity delivery vehicles in Minneapolis. The vehicles can hold up to eight times more packages per route, adding more flexibility to deliver even faster and make room for growing order sizes.
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“And it’s just the start: We’ll continue to test and improve, with plans to scale in the years to come,” Target said. “It’s yet another way we’re investing across our operations to support our teams, build on our strategy and deliver joy for our guests.”
Lastly, Target said that it continue to invest in its network with additional facilities in new markets in the coming years as “we remain focused on building a modern, flexible supply chain that supports our stores, all in service of our guests.”