If you are a member of ecommerce’s most popular loyalty program, Amazon Prime, then you are most likely familiar with ‘Prime Day’. As sales days go, ‘Prime Day’ has reached a level of ubiquity that rivals Black Friday.
In 2023, Prime members purchased more than 375 million items worldwide and saved more than $2.5 billion on millions of deals across the Amazon store during its July Prime Days event.
Now, in hopes of attracting similar volume spikes, other big players in the retail game, like Target, are expanding their efforts to bring in new customers and skyrocket profits.
Enter Target Circle Week.
What is Target Circle Week?
Target Circle is a rewards program first launched by the retailer in 2019. For every dollar you spend, you earn 1% back and can redeem the cashback at any time. Since its release Target has hosted periodic “Circle Week” events where circle members get up to an additional 40% select products.
“Target Circle Week is akin to Prime Day or Walmart + Week and is a significant retail event each year for Target. This is a great opportunity for brands to gain exposure as Brands who participate can expect increased traffic to their listings and, if they're prepared with great listings and enough inventory, a large increase in sales.” - Kevin Lamb, Director of Channels Marketplace – Target
What Makes Target Circle Week Different?
As ecommerce retailers compete for larger market share and more loyal customers through the various experiences offered to members, the need to create an enticing event that stands out is greater than ever.
Circle Week has a lot of similarities to Prime Days or Walmart+ Week. At its core, Circle Week is a “members only” sales event that takes advantage of ‘buying’ seasons (spring, back-to-school, Black-Friday) to drive elevated conversion through ‘best of the season’ promotions. Deal days have become table stakes for large online retailers, so it’s no surprise that Target has their version.
But if you have ever met a die-hard Target fan, you know there is something different about the group.
So here are some quirks that make Circle Week special:
- Length. It’s not Circle Day, it’s Circle WEEK. Target has found a way to create urgency (best of the season promotions) while also maximizing opportunities for customers to spend. Each day features new days which also encourage extended participation.
- Loyalty. Target.com is ostensibly an extension of the store. This is a MAJOR differentiator for them. Toothpaste, pack of socks, candle, two bags of sour cream and onion chips, add to cart, get it delivered same day. Because of their network of stores, they can make this a consistent experience for Target Circle members. During Circle Week, Target offers a flat 15% off ANY item on target.com. This is to get people signed up, get them ordering, and hooked on the convenience of unlimited same-day delivery for orders of $35 or more.
Studies have shown that consumers spend more when they belong to a loyalty program, often creating a 5-10% revenue increase. So, it makes sense that Target is working hard to increase its membership count from its current 100+ million to compete with Amazon’s 230 million Prime members.
Target Circle Statistics
2023: October 1st – 7th :
- Amount of deals: 11,500
- Top Category: Clothes
- Top Brand: Target Private Label
- Top Deal: ‘Save 20%’
- Transactions: 11% Increase
How Do I Participate in Deal Days like Target Week?
Even if your products are already on Target, it’s still quite a bit of work qualifying for Circle deals, managing promotions, and optimizing deal listings to generate the biggest impact. So why not partner with someone who can do it all?
Spreetail’s team of ecommerce merchants and marketplace experts take pride in preparing our partner brands for deals success. We even wrote a whole blog about the different Amazon deal types we utilize, and optimizing for Target deal events is no different.
“Our team prepares for Circle Week by forecasting the inventory we'll need to account for increased customer demand. We ensure it is available within our fulfillment network so we can continue to offer 1–2-day shipping for our customers despite order increases. Our content teams work diligently to optimize listings for conversions and increase ad spend during this time, using Target Product Ads, to drive an even larger share of traffic to our listings. Then, our pricing team provides promotional pricing insights on our top items to drive additional sales and new customer acquisition.” - Kevin Lamb, Director of Channels Marketplace – Target
At Spreetail our mission is to accelerate brands without negatively impacting their bottom line. Ensuring our partners are set up for growth during deal events such as Target Circle Week is one of the ways we make it happen. You can see a real-life deal success story in action by reading our case study with electric trailer Dolley brand, Parkit360.
B2B Creative Marketing Manager
