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How Does Target Know So Much About Its Customers? Utilizing Customer
Analytics to Make Marketing Decisions

Article in Marketing Education Review · July 2014


DOI: 10.2753/MER1052-8008240206

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Case Study

How Does Target Know So Much About Its Customers? Utilizing


Customer Analytics to Make Marketing Decisions
Hope B. Corrigan, Georgiana Craciun, and Allison M. Powell

Every time shoppers make a purchase at a store or browse a Web site, customer behavior is tracked,
analyzed, and perhaps shared with other businesses. Target Corporation is a leader in analyzing vast
amounts of data to identify buying patterns, improve customer satisfaction, predict future trends, select
promotional strategies, and increase revenue. This case highlights a situation in which a teen girl unex-
pectedly received a maternity-specific mailer from Target and discusses the positive and negative aspects
of this retailer’s data mining program. The case focuses on the types of data needed to identify changes
in consumer behavior, privacy issues that arise with data mining, and how customer analytics supports
marketing decisions.

The ever-increasing competition in the retail industry you’re sending her coupons for baby clothes and cribs? Are
puts pressure on retailers to be more customer-centric you trying to encourage her to get pregnant?” What the
and provide a differentiated experience. That is, retailers father did not know at the time was that his teen daughter
must be more efficient in understanding their customers’ was, in fact, pregnant (Duhigg 2012).
expectations and preferences, and delivering services, How did Target figure out this teen girl was pregnant
merchandise, and promotions that fulfill these needs and before she disclosed the information to her father and the
wants. Target, among other retailers, has a proven system company? Why did Target send this mailing to a teen girl
for collecting information about its guests and marketing and not another family member living at that address? Did
to them in the most efficient way possible. Target not only other retailers or product manufacturers have access to this
monitors its guests’ browsing and spending patterns to personal information about the teen? Many consumers may
determine future habits, but also uses data to predict major feel queasy about the privacy and security implications of
life stages, such as when a woman is likely to be pregnant. this story. Target and other businesses may need to revisit
An example of identifying a change in consumer buying the opportunities and challenges of data mining and select
behavior was featured in the 2012 New York Times article strategies that build accurate models but still preserve pri-
“How Companies Learn Your Secrets.” In this story, an vacy at the individual level.
irate father visited a Target store right outside of Minne-
apolis demanding to meet with the manager because of a
Brief Company Background
maternity-specific mailer that his teen daughter received.
The father was livid, stating: “She’s still in high school, and According to the company home page, Target is an upscale
discount retailer that provides “high-quality, on-trend mer-
Hope B. Corrigan (MBA, Loyola University Maryland), Affiliate chandise at attractive prices [online and] in clean, spacious
Assistant Professor of Marketing, Sellinger School of Business and guest-friendly stores.” In 2011, the retailer achieved an
and Management, Loyola University Maryland, Baltimore, MD, all-time high in sales of $69.87 billion, becoming the sec-
hcorrigan@loyola.edu. ond-largest U.S. discount retailer and setting a new record
Georgiana Craciun (Ph.D., University of South Carolina), Assis- of $4.28 in earnings per share (Hoover’s 2012; Target 2012a,
tant Professor of Marketing, Palumbo-Donahue School of Busi-
2012b). The company currently serves guests at 1,763 stores
ness, Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, PA, craciun@duq.edu.
across the United States and at Target.com (Target 2012b).
Allison M. Powell (MBA, Loyola University Maryland), Sales
and Marketing Representative, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, During 2011, Target announced its first international bricks
Baltimore, MD, ampowell@loyola.edu. and mortar expansion into Canada, with stores to open in
All three authors contributed equally to the case. 2013 (Target 2012b).

Marketing Education Review, vol. 24, no. 2 (summer 2014), pp. 159–165.
© 2014 Society for Marketing Advances. All rights reserved. Permissions: www.copyright.com
ISSN 1052–8008 (print) / ISSN 2153–9987 (online)
DOI: 10.2753/MER1052-8008240206
160 Marketing Education Review

More Competition, Higher Customer 2012). Data mining has empowered companies to find
Expectations new opportunities for growth, make better decisions for
achieving business goals, and streamline processes to
Company Perspective reduce costs. It also allows companies to identify valuable
customers, predict future trends, and enable businesses to
A more crowded retail landscape and the proliferation of
make proactive, well-informed decisions (Rygielski, Wang,
channels and devices (e.g., social media and the Internet)
and Yen 2002).
have forced retailers to reevaluate their marketing strategies
Based on an article by Sonya Donaldson (2007), data
and implement customer-centric solutions to be more com-
mining is useful during market segmentation and when
petitive. Competition is more intense because comparison
identifying customers with common characteristics or those
shopping has never been so easy for shoppers. The expecta-
most likely to purchase products. It is also helpful when
tions of customer service are higher now that consumers
analyzing retention rates to prevent valuable customers
are more demanding, sophisticated, price sensitive, time
from leaving a business and going to a competitor. This
strapped, knowledgeable, and overwhelmed by the choices
decision support tool also allows companies to uncover
available. In addition to customer demographics, companies
a number of different trends such as merchandise prefer-
use transactional and online data to understand customers’
ence, promotional response rates, optimum distribution
needs and make well-informed decisions. Numerous busi-
channels, and seasonal buying behavior. For example,
nesses have been investing in data analysis to learn what
Walmart learned through customer data mining that beer
customers want, understand historical trends, and improve
sales increase when a hurricane is predicted. This valuable
the quality of marketing decisions, which is also increasing
connection allows the retailer to be prepared to meet the
competitive pressure (Taylor 2012).
increase in demand by stocking up on an item well before
this type of weather event occurs (Keating 2008).
Consumer Perspective
Technology has had a tremendous impact on the way How Target Meets Its Guests’
consumers interact with companies. Customers have both Expectations
traditional and modern channels to acquire information
from companies, including direct mail, television, Inter- Target has a proven system for collecting information about
net, e-mail, mobile phones, and social media. People want its guests and marketing to them in the most efficient way
choices and they want information fast. Shoppers also possible. Andrew Pole, Target’s manager of guest marketing
expect seamless movement between channels. Although analytics, discussed the company’s strategy for meeting
consumers have experienced enormous benefits because its customers’ needs at the 2010 Predictive Analytics con-
of advances in technology, these developments have led to ference. He presented how the company focuses on three
an increase in concerns for privacy and security. Customers primary sets of guest expectations: “understand her needs,
are often not fully aware of the extent to which companies deliver relevant messages and offers, and contact guest with
collect, utilize, and share data, as illustrated by the Congres- the right vehicle(s)” (Pole 2010).
sional Privacy Caucus information request on this topic. Target starts by analyzing its collected data to under-
This bipartisan congressional committee is exploring how stand the needs of each customer. Target studies the
the leading data collection companies manage financial, demographics of each guest, such as marital status and
retail, and other private consumer information for market- family size and composition. The retailer also reviews
ing purposes (Singer 2012). the guest’s occupation, household income, and average
income for the neighborhood to obtain a better sense of
Data Mining the guest’s spending potential. Target has the ability to
buy this type of private information from data warehouses,
Data mining is the computer-assisted process that digs but some of it is collected through completing Target’s
through and analyzes massive sets of data, and then extracts debit or credit card applications. The company analyzes
the meaning of the figures. By using statistical algorithms the guest’s browsing and shopping behaviors across
to sift through warehoused information, companies can multiple channels. Online lists, like baby and wedding
identify relationships, hidden patterns, exceptions, and registries, are also used for collecting unique guest data
anomalies that may otherwise be overlooked (Alexander and learning customer needs. In addition, the location
Summer 2014 161

of the guest’s house in relation to the nearest store(s) is reward), and gift registries (baby and wedding) to custom-
determined. If a guest lives far from a store, Target will ize advertisements and offers. In many cases, guests have
focus its efforts on driving the customer to its Web site. If more than one preferred method for receiving offers. It is
it can anticipate that a guest has recently moved or lives not only important to determine the right communication
close to a competitor, Target sends them unique promo- vehicle; it is also necessary for all methods to be coordi-
tions to encourage them to shop at Target.com instead of nated (Pole 2010).
a nearby competitor (Pole 2010).
Target uses a potential value model to forecast a given How Target Brings It All Together
customer’s likeliness to spend. This model examines a
guest’s actual spending patterns with Target versus dispos- Target’s goal is to collect as much data as possible on every
able income to determine potential spending. Disposable individual who shops at one of its brick-and-mortar stores or
income is established through analyzing a customer’s online at Target.com. These data help to build a guest por-
demographic information and his or her prior years’ spend- trait that Target uses to improve its marketing ROI (return
ing behavior. If the gap between the two spending levels is on investment). The retailer assigns each shopper a unique
greater than an established amount, then Target will focus code, known as the “Guest ID” number, which keeps track
its advertising efforts on those guests. Target can be more of every guest’s shopping behaviors. This number is tied
selective in whom they approach and better manage market- to the individual’s credit card, name, address, and other
ing costs by using this predictive model (Pole 2010). demographic and geographic segmentation information.
Second, Target recognizes the importance of delivering Target has the ability to buy additional information,
relevant messages to customers in a timely manner. There- including the person’s ethnicity, job history, credit rating,
fore, Target looks at the purchase cycle for various categories marital status, education level, and residence tenure. The
of merchandise that the customer buys from the store. If unique “Guest ID” number is also linked to behavioral
a guest is browsing for a new electronic device on Target. data, such as prior in-store and online transactions, Internet
com this morning, it is imperative that the retailer respond browsing, and responses to various promotions for effec-
within hours with a follow-up promotion that corresponds tive analysis.
to the purchase of this product. If a retailer waits days or Due to the development of customer analytics, Target
weeks to act on the collected data, it runs the risk of losing and other retailers can now design incentive programs
the sale to another store (Pole 2010). based on consumer data provided by banks. Derived from
However, if a guest recently bought dishwashing soap, customers’ shopping habits (how much they spend, the
Target will not offer a coupon for this item during her next stores they go to, and the items they purchase), retailers
store visit, since the item was just purchased. Even though target customers with customized offers via the banks’
this coupon may be relevant to the guest in terms of brand communication channels (text messages, e-mails, or
and savings, the timing is not appropriate. When a coupon online bank statements). Retailers do not see the actual
does not fulfill a guest’s current need, it is less likely to be consumer information (name, Social Security number,
redeemed (Pole 2010) and represents a waste of marketing purchase history, etc.), but they send banks their selection
resources and customer time. A retailer would not want to criteria (e.g., customers shopping at a specific store and
send a coupon for diapers to a household with children over spending more than a certain amount), and in exchange
three years of age, nor would they want to send a back-to- for a fee (about 10 to 15 percent of the purchase price of
school flyer to empty nesters. a product), banks send offers to customers who fit the
As a third step to meeting its guests’ expectations, Target specific profile (Ellis 2011). In a similar attempt, Target and
makes sure to contact its guests using the right vehicle(s). other retailers try to reach their existing customers with
Target recognizes that each guest is unique in how they promotional offers through Facebook. Sophisticated audi-
prefer to be reached. Some guests prefer to receive offers ence segmentation tools allow retailers to compare their
by direct mail (coupons redeemed), while others respond customer databases against Facebook’s subscriber records
to e-mails (open and click-through rates) or through their and target only those customers who match specific selec-
mobile phones (promotions utilized). Target is able to tie tion criteria. Intermediary data analytics companies are
a guest’s response rates to various promotional vehicles to then able to track whether people who bought products
in-store transactions, online shopping, loyalty program in stores were influenced by ads seen on Facebook (Steel
participation (Target REDcard with a 5 percent savings and Dembosky 2012).
162 Marketing Education Review

Figure 1
Example of the Baby Coupon Mailer from Target

Source: www.totallytarget.com/2011/03/21/new-target-baby-mailer-over-77-in-coupons/, accessed July 29, 2012.

How Target Leverages the Data butter lotion, a purse large enough to double as a
to Drive Performance diaper bag, zinc and magnesium supplements and a
bright blue rug. There’s, say, an 87 percent chance that
Target has been successful in developing a number of data she’s pregnant and that her delivery date is sometime
mining programs to improve its marketing efforts and in late August. (Duhigg 2012)
drive performance. They have been able to create detailed
Retailers have learned that there are a few unique
portraits of individual customers, leading them to informa-
moments in a person’s life where shopping patterns become
tion that is considered to be very personal.
flexible. Most consumers’ shopping habits are fixed, so any
One of Target’s most successful programs is its Mom and
chance of convincing a customer to change is very limited
Baby Acquisition Mailer (for an example of this coupon
and extremely difficult. However, when people become
mailer, see Figure 1) where they have been able to “acquire
new parents, graduate from college, or even move to a
and convert prenatal mothers before they have their baby.”
new town, they are traditionally less brand loyal and more
Target found that prenatal mothers start nesting and buy-
willing to explore. Pregnancy is one of the most important
ing specific items at regular intervals. Andrew Pole and
life-changing events that retailers study. This is a period of
his team developed a model that assigns each shopper a
time where the shopping preferences of expectant parent(s)
“pregnancy prediction” score based on about 25 products
most often change, and the right advertisement or coupon
that are routinely purchased. This model not only identifies
could shift the customer in their direction. Charles Duhigg
whether a woman is pregnant, but also estimates her due
said, “If companies can identify pregnant shoppers, they
date to a small window, allowing the retailer to send cou-
can earn millions” (2012).
pons timed to the various stages of her pregnancy (Duhigg
Once the program was applied to all female shoppers in
2012). This is exactly what happened in the teen pregnancy
their national database, Target had a list of tens of thousands
case featured in the press. Based on the items this teen girl
of women who were likely to be pregnant. They realized
purchased from Target, her “pregnancy prediction” score
that if they could successfully reach these customers with
was high enough to start receiving coupons for baby items.
the appropriate messaging and offers, they could convince
This article also provided a hypothetical example to further
them to start buying more than baby-related products and
illustrate how Target’s model works:
look to Target as their one-stop-shop solution (Duhigg
Take a fictional Target shopper named Jenny Ward, 2012). In 2010, as a result of its analytics program, Target
who is 23, lives in Atlanta and in March bought cocoa- was able to identify 30 percent more prenatal mothers
Summer 2014 163

as direct mail contacts for the profitable Mom and Baby some people uncomfortable” (Duhigg 2012). After Target
Acquisition Mailer (Pole 2010). received negative publicity regarding its original data min-
Target has also improved its marketing efforts with the ing approach, the retailer determined a new strategy that
use of its Receipt Marketing Point-of-Sale (POS) Offers. In allows expectant mothers to receive specific advertisements
particular, Target has seen a significant increase in coupon without revealing the direct marketing focus. A Target
redemption and guest-conversion rates through its success- executive said:
ful Receipt Marketing (POS) Diaper Offer. Target was able
to develop a model that identified guests likely to start We started mixing in all these ads for things we knew
pregnant woman would never buy, so the baby ads
buying or increasing their purchases of baby diapers at its looked random. We’d put an ad for a lawn mower
stores. Target reviewed its guests’ demographics, in-store next to diapers. We’d put a coupon for wine glasses
and online shopping behaviors, and pulled data from its next to infant clothes. That way, it looked like all the
registries to help predict each guest’s purchasing behavior. products were chosen by chance. And we found out
that as long as a pregnant woman thinks she hasn’t
As a result, the selected guests have redeemed more cou- been spied on, she’ll use the coupons. She just assumes
pons and made more purchases of diapers and other baby that everyone else on her block got the same mailer
products at Target (Pole 2010). for diapers and cribs. As long as we don’t spook her,
Data mining has given Target insight into the relationship it works. (Duhigg 2012)
between product sales and online reviews. Results showed
This approach allows Target to continue to reap the ben-
that products with online reviews, even when reviews were
efits of data mining while making it less obvious to the
below average, sold better than products without reviews.
customer that they have been identified as an expectant
As a result, Target launched an Online Review Request
mother.
Email Program to increase the number of reviews for prod-
One of the only ways to learn about a company’s ana-
ucts that featured minimal to no reviews on its Web site.
lytics program is to research the company’s Web site to
The retailer identified guests that would most likely write
review their privacy policy. Many companies like Target have
future product reviews by examining their past history for
implemented loyalty schemes to capture valuable customer
writing reviews combined with recent in-store and online
data. Target has a loyalty card, which offers participating
purchases. Then Target invited these consumers (via e-mail)
customers a 5 percent discount on all purchases. Signing
to write reviews about recently purchased products. The
up for this card gives Target another opportunity to inform
program was highly successful, leading Target to acquire
its guests about the customer privacy policy. The policy is
tens of thousands of incremental reviews and increase sales
usually disclosed in fine print or is only found after many
of those key products (Pole 2010).
clicks on the Web page, and “few consumers take the time
to read the dense legalese before sending in the application
Controversy on Data Mining form” (Krishnamurthy 2012).
Another issue regarding data mining is that there are
There has been increased controversy around how retail-
no clear policies around how companies use the data
ers like Target Corporation run their predictive analytics
once they have collected the information. In some cases,
programs. Not only are most companies not informing
retailers are buying or sharing information with other
their customers of when and what data they are col-
companies to better understand customer behaviors.
lecting, but they are not letting them know about their
Described in Target’s privacy policy section, “Sharing
analysis policies. Consumers are quite often willing
with Other Companies (for their marketing purposes),”
to share some personal data, but are unaware of how
the company states:
retailers are using the collected data to improve their
marketing strategies. We may share information with vendors, business
People have mixed emotions when they learn how much partners and other organizations which are not part of
a company knows about them, especially when the details the Target family. These companies and organizations
may use the information we share to provide special
are private. Target learned quickly that they upset prenatal
offers and opportunities to you. (Target 2012c)
mothers when the company found out about their pregnan-
cies without consent. Pole stated, “If we send someone a Many critics have expressed how inappropriate this prac-
catalog and say, ‘Congratulations on your first child!’ and tice is for retailers like Target, which sell such a wide range
they’ve never told us they’re pregnant, that’s going to make of products, from food to vitamins to clothes. A lawyer and
164 Marketing Education Review

member of Foley Hoag’s Corporate Social Responsibility higher education investigate when deciding on
Practice explained: implementing a data mining program?
3. Consider the pros and cons of data mining from
If an individual’s purchases of these kinds of products the corporate perspective and the customer
can be used to determine whether she is pregnant, it is
not difficult to see how a predictive analytics program perspective for managerial decision making. Use
could be used to determine whether a customer is the table below to format the response.
overweight, diabetic, or sexually active—to name just
three kinds of intimate details that can be revealed
Pros Cons
by the things we buy. Nor does it take a particularly
fertile imagination to see how such information could Corporate
be used by potential employers, insurance companies, Perspective
and others in ways that no consumers would ever Customer
have dreamt about while waiting in the checkout line. Perspective
(Krishnamurthy 2012)
4. Privacy concerns and ethics are two controversial
As effective as data mining can be, there are some
topics that have arisen because of data mining and
instances where this strategy could have a negative impact
customer analytics. If you are a manager at Target
on the brand. Statistics from the American Pregnancy Asso-
Corporation, what policies could you present that
ciation found that 10 percent to 25 percent of all clinically
would make customers more comfortable with the
recognized pregnancies will end in miscarriages (2012).
idea of collecting and analyzing their data? Please
The last thing this woman wants to see is a flyer or e-mail
visit the Target home page to read their current
focusing on cribs and diapers after this type of loss. If retail-
“Privacy Policy,” www.target.com/spot/privacy-
ers like Target identify this information early on, they can
policy#?lnk=gfot_t_spc_2_2/.
avoid sending prenatal promotions to women who have
5. How have other industries or companies been
experienced a miscarriage. If the company is not careful,
successful with tracking and analyzing consumer
customers could unsubscribe from mailings, or worse yet,
behaviors to deliver targeted messages and
stop shopping at their stores.
promotions? Describe how they are similar and/
or different to Target’s approach. Visit the home
Conclusions page for one of the following organizations to
find an example for your response: Amazon,
The retail industry is just one of many that utilize data min-
Netflix, Pandora radio, Google, Facebook, Visa,
ing and customer analytics to support marketing decisions.
eHarmony, iTunes, Ticketmaster, or Kroger. Use
Exploring how collected data can be manipulated to identify
library databases or Web browsers to search for
customer buying patterns and increase profitability is a
credible sources and include a citation.
growing business trend. As customer analytics continues to
gain attention, companies can study the potential financial
gains versus the negative impact in terms of customer pri- References
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