Target Teams Up With Apple For Special Employee Shop-In-Shop Training

Retailers across the industry are turning to shop-in-shop offerings to refresh their store experience and add an element of differentiation, finding unique product and CX synergies through innovative partnerships. Shop-in-shops allow brands to create fun, exciting, and fully-owned experiences outside of their own store footprints, while the retailers housing them enjoy the customer-centric benefits of being a one-stop destination for a shopper audience increasingly focused on convenience.

For the retailer Target, who rolled out a partnership with Apple in the fall of 2021, co-branding the in-store shopping experience also means co-branding the employees who are staffed on the partner shop-in-shop kiosks. The inherent danger of the partner shop-in-shop model is that great products do sell, but only when sold properly. Consumers will often switch brands because of poor customer service. Employee knowledge is incredibly important and valuable to shoppers, but a lack of it can be a major deterrent. 

Target’s new initiative with Apple builds on Target’s shop-in-shop success with other national brand partners including such titans of industry as Disney, Ulta Beauty and Levi Strauss & Co. and the retailer is activating its learnings from those partnerships. The partnership doubled Apple’s footprint in Target stores, bringing Apple products and accessories together in one space designed for shoppers to experience new products through demonstrations and knowledgeable Target Tech Consultants. 

Retail workers are tasked with knowing more than ever before, in part due to new technologies, Intelligent Clienteling Strategies, tools, platforms, and the rise of a convenience-focused and hyper-personalized online commerce experience. In order to provide a similarly enjoyable, expedited, and engaging shopping experience, brick-and-mortar retailers have increased their frontline and associate training as a way to add value. Specialized expertise is becoming table stakes for many organizations who are hoping to differentiate their offerings from competitors. 

The dedicated shopping experience from Target and Apple offers enhanced service and expanded offerings, building on Target’s strength as a go-to destination for electronics. By partnering on staff training, the two companies hope to encourage first-time buyer success and to drive repeat customer loyalty by making the frontline worker a vital part of the shopper journey. 

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This article originally appeared in the PSFK iQ report, Intelligent Clienteling Strategies.