Target Aims for Faster Shipping With New Sortation Centers

Target is adding three new sortation centers to the six it already has nationwide with the overall goal to ship faster and improve customer experience, according to a Monday (July 25) press release.

Two new centers are being added in greater Chicago and one will be added in the Denver metro area in the next year to deliver packages quicker to guests while also helping Target’s teams work more efficiently and reduce costs, the release stated.

See also: Walmart Intros 4 Next-Gen Fulfilment Centers

Sortation centers take orders packed in local stores and sort them faster for more efficient local deliveries, according to the release.

“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 release stated.

Target pointed to its $13 billion increase in digital sales from 2019 to 2021 and its overall in-house fulfillment of more than 95% of its total sales in 2021 as being the success so far of its sortation centers and its reason for adding similar operations now, according to the release.

Read also: Target Sees Resilient Consumers, Spending Splurges as It Races to Right-Size Inventory

Sortation centers take on the sorting process rather than having employees manage, pack and sort packages in a store’s back room. Sortation centers save time and space for internal store teams, fulfilling more orders and delivering goods to guests faster at a lower cost, the release stated.

Using sortation centers, Targets’ teams can easily scale to fulfill a growing number of orders, which makes it easier for consolidating orders and batching deliveries for carriers, according to the release.

“We’re not stopping at nine sortation centers,” the release stated. “We’ll continue to invest in our 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.”

See also: Online Shopping Slowdown Could Lead to Glut of Warehouses