TARGET

Overview: It’s a good-looking app, but there are some issues. The “Browse” section is where most of the items are found, yet it’s not listed on the Home page. And drilling down to a desired product can be cumbersome. The app is not built with a cart or checkout feature and all shopping is done through Target’s regular website. It’s not a terrible experience since the browser always remains inside the app’s confines. Still, it would be much better if the purchasing happened on specialized pages for the phone. The “Weekly Ads” section promoting sale items is nice, but it needs more products – say the Top 20 or Top 50 in each category. The “Clearance” section that Target included is a good idea, but the pages don’t show the original price or the discounted percentage, so the user doesn’t know what kind of deal they are getting. Without this information, the sale is much less meaningful. There is a store locator, which is well done, and another feature called the “Gift Finder,” which is hidden under “More” for good reason since this toy isn’t much of a help.

Nicest Touch: The ability to search Registries.

Biggest Problem:

(1) The Target logo on the top left needs to go back to the Home screen. Currently, this graphic is a dead link.

(2) The Registry functionality. While it’s a great idea to offer the registry, using it can be painful and that translates into lost sales. For example, the default is to “Target Baby,” which is easy to miss when you are expecting a wedding registry. Once in the wedding list, “Club Wedd,” the results seem limited as compared to the website. I tried to buy gifts for four different people and three of the four times the result was a web page from Target.com that said, “There is no Target.com page matching your request.” And why can’t you buy products that are “sold in stores”? Why would Target keep their customers separated from the merchandise? Whether this is a problem with the online commerce system or the app itself is beside the point. A missed sale is a missed sale.

(3) Search functions can be slow.

Overall Grade: C+ (off-Target, but make the suggested changes and you rise to an A–)