International Presence

I have already talked about Target expanding to Canada, so I know they have some international presence. As I looked further into Target globally, I found that Target is in India. Operations in India began in 2005. Target began in India providing technology solutions and developing systems for the retail domain. TargetIndia now supports all of the business units of the Target retail operations.

Information about TargetIndia found at:

http://india.target.com/site/en/corporate/page.jsp?contentId=PRD03-004529

Corporate Strategy

Target uses a single-business diversification strategy. They are not really a diversified company, but it works for them. The single-business strategy has been successful for Target.

CityTarget

Target is taking advantage of a great opportunity by opening up a new type of store, a smaller format, in Chicago. This new type of store will be called CityTarget. These stores will offer a different variety of products in a smaller store located in the heart of urban areas. CityTarget will offer one stop shopping for fresh foods, apartment essentials, and fashion collections. The Chicago store is set to open in 2012 in the Sullivan Center on State Street.

This is a great new growth strategy for Target. It is also a great opportunity to expand the brand.

The information in this post was found on the Target website.
http://pressroom.target.com/pr/news/target-to-open-small-format-store-chicago.aspx

Business Level Strategy

Target is using the Integrated Cost Leadership/Differentiation Strategy. I come to this conclusion by analyzing the brand promise and using the textbook for reference. The "Expect More." part of the brand promise leads to a differentiation strategy, giving the customers something different than similar companies. The "Pay Less." part of the brand promise leads to a cost leadership strategy because it creates a value for customers who want to save. The business level strategy of Target is the integrated cost leadership/differentiation strategy because of the unique way it has set up the brand to use both the differentiation strategy and the cost leadership strategy.