--- title: How Target Plans to Boost Grocery Sales Without Copying Walmart description: Target says that it is making improvements to its flagging grocery section, but doesn't want to be a full-fledged grocery store like Walmart or Whole Foods. authors: - name: Brad Tuttle role: Senior Editor url: https://money.com/author/brad-tuttle/ bio: Brad Tuttle is a former senior editor at Money with over 10 years’ experience covering a vast number of personal finance topics, including careers, cars, travel, budgeting, investing, insurance, credit cards, consumer psychology, real estate, banking, and shopping and deals. education: Columbia University School of Journalism, MS at_money_since: 2014 articles: 366 covers: - Lifestyle - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Economy and Politics - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Pets - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes - Technology social: - https://twitter.com/bradrtuttle - https://linkedin.com/in/brad-tuttle-834b225 former_staff: true published: '2016-09-15T18:48:04.000Z' modified: '2024-05-16T11:41:16.000Z' section: Lifestyle tags: - groceries - pubdesk - Retail - Shopping - Supermarkets - Target word_count: 320 canonical: https://money.com/target-groceries-walmart-whole-foods/ type: Article source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** Money may earn a commission when you click on the products and services below. Opinions are our own, but compensation and in-depth research determine where and how they appear. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/) about how we make money. ![160915_EM_TargetGrocery](https://img.money.com/2016/09/160915_em_targetgrocery.jpg) A big reason why fewer people are shopping at Target lately is that its grocery section has failed to attract regular, dedicated customers. Target's groceries, [one company executive said](https://money.com/target-walmart-grocery-shopping/), have been in "no man's land," in that the selection hasn't nearly been as robust or interesting as Whole Foods, and the prices aren't nearly as low as Walmart or Aldi. As a result, the typical shopper might pick up a few food items when swinging by the local Target on other errands, but doesn't do regular grocery shopping at the store. That's a big problem for Target. Groceries are low-margin, and the only way they make sense for retailers is if they drive tons of traffic into stores, where shoppers are prone to making other, more profitable purchases. The company says that it has been making improvements to store grocery departments even before the release of its dismal second-quarter sales results. "Target has been adding hundreds of new items to its shelves including a number of organic, natural and gluten-free products and bolstering key categories for its fill-in grocery trips such as snacks, yogurt, and craft beer," the (Minneapolis) [*Star Tribune*](http://www.startribune.com/target-ceo-weighs-in-on-trouble-in-grocery-aisles/393435931/) reported. Target has been pumping up low-price promotions and fresh produce offerings as well. But the tweaks seem to be just that—tweaks—and Target says it has no plans to dramatically expand into a full-service grocery seller along the lines of Whole Foods, Wegman's, Kroger, or Walmart. “We’re not a grocer,” Target CEO Brian Cornell told reporters on Wednesday, according to the [*Wall Street Journal*](http://www.wsj.com/articles/target-ceo-says-retailer-wont-become-full-service-grocer-1473884395). “We’ve been able to drive traffic without having a sushi chef.” ***Read Next:* 5 Reasons Why Fewer People Are Shopping at Target** There will be no butchers or rotisserie ovens serving fresh-roasted chickens in Target stores either. “We provide a convenient selection of foods,” Cornell said. But it's "a self-service grocery experience,” and the grocery department is "not one of our signature categories nor will it be." ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/target-groceries-walmart-whole-foods/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Lifestyle", "item": "https://money.com/lifestyle/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Places to Travel", "item": "https://money.com/places-to-travel/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "How Target Plans to Boost Grocery Sales Without Copying Walmart" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/target-groceries-walmart-whole-foods/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/target-groceries-walmart-whole-foods/", "name": "How Target Plans to Boost Grocery Sales Without Copying Walmart", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2016-09-15T18:48:04.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/target-groceries-walmart-whole-foods/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/target-groceries-walmart-whole-foods/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2024-05-16T11:41:16.000Z" }, { "@type": "Article", "headline": "How Target Plans to Boost Grocery Sales Without Copying Walmart", "articleSection": "Lifestyle", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2016/09/160915_em_targetgrocery.jpg", "width": 2100, "height": 1402, "caption": "160915_EM_TargetGrocery" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Brad Tuttle", "url": "https://money.com/author/brad-tuttle/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/brad-tuttle/#author", "description": "Brad Tuttle is a former senior editor at Money with over 10 years’ experience covering a vast number of personal finance topics, including careers, cars, travel, budgeting, investing, insurance, credit cards, consumer psychology, real estate, banking, and shopping and deals.\r\n\r\n", "image": "https://img.money.com/2014/01/Brad-Tuttle.png?w=226&h=247&crop=1", "alumniOf": "Columbia University School of Journalism, MS", "sameAs": [ "https://twitter.com/bradrtuttle", "https://linkedin.com/in/brad-tuttle-834b225" ] } ], "publisher": "https://money.com/#organization", "datePublished": "2016-09-15T18:48:04.000Z", "description": "Target says that it is making improvements to its flagging grocery section, but doesn't want to be a full-fledged grocery store like Walmart or Whole Foods.", "abstract": "Target says that it is making improvements to its flagging grocery section, but doesn't want to be a full-fledged grocery store like Walmart or Whole Foods.", "@id": "https://money.com/target-groceries-walmart-whole-foods/", "inLanguage": "en-US", "dateModified": "2024-05-16T11:41:16.000Z", "wordCount": 320, "keywords": [ "groceries", "pubdesk", "Retail", "Shopping", "Supermarkets", "Target" ], "about": [ { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Lifestyle", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lifestyle" ] }, { "@type": "Thing", "name": "World Tourism rankings", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Tourism_rankings" ] } ] } ] } ```