Bengaluru: A Target order placed in the US may be fulfilled not from a distant warehouse, but from a store down the road. Before it reaches a customer’s doorstep, technology determines where the product is available, which store should fulfill the order and how employees can pick it most efficiently. Part of that planning happens in Bengaluru.“It is a huge technology play,” Andrea Zimmerman, president of Target in India, told TOI. “Even bigger than that is being intentional about leveraging our stores as part of our fulfillment network.”Target operates more than 2,000 stores across the US. By turning them into local fulfillment hubs, the retailer can ship orders from inventory closest to customers instead of routing every online purchase through a distribution centre.The strategy is paying off. Same-day delivery through Target Circle 360 grew more than 27% in the first quarter, according to results released in May, helping drive an 8.9% increase in comparable digital sales.Zimmerman said Bengaluru teams play a key role in labour planning, technology development and supply-chain network optimisation that power the operation. A senior leader based in Bengaluru oversees supply-chain network optimisation with significant decision-making responsibilities, while another heads Target’s fulfillment products.“Labour planning, technology and network optimisation, a lot of that is actually led and delivered by our team here,” Zimmerman said. “Our fulfillment and network optimisation capabilities are really strong here.”Technology also extends to the store floor. Target uses AI to map the most efficient routes for employees picking online orders inside stores that can span more than 100,000 square feet. The retailer is also building a digital twin of its supply chain, enabling teams to simulate changes, such as adding a new network node or modifying store replenishment patterns, before implementing them in the real world.
