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Target Is Expanding Its Rewards Program to Additional Cities

Feb. 06, 2019
3 min read
Target Store Exterior
Target Is Expanding Its Rewards Program to Additional Cities
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Target already has a cult following that is captured in countless memes that depict someone (often a suburban housewife) heading into Target for one or two items only to always walk out with a new throw pillow, Starbucks iced coffee, seasonal door mat and a final bill that is always over $100.

But –- it turns out that Target can get even better. Following in the footsteps of retailers like Nordstrom, Starbucks and even Chick-fil-A, Target has decided now is the right time to see if a rewards program might lure shoppers even further into their red bullseye. And yes, like Starbucks, the program will give out birthday rewards!

The newly renamed and expanding rewards program, dubbed Target Circle, has been tested in the Dallas area since last year, but will be expanding on Feb. 19 to Charlotte, Denver, Indianapolis, Kansas City and Phoenix.

In our test, we were able to join Target Circle just by changing our home store to a Dallas location in the Target app.

Target's newly expanded loyalty program is set to offer personalized rewards based on your shopping patterns and also has a charity component where the shopper can vote for a local charity to receive Target's support. Target Circle membership is not tied to having the co-branded Target REDcard that saves you 5% at Target (even on Disney gift cards).

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The Target Circle program offers 1% back in rewards to redeem on a future Target trip, but that 1% does not stack with the 5% off with the REDcard so it is an either/or situation.

You can earn Target rewards by scanning your Target wallet at checkout in the store, scanning a Target receipt in the app within seven days or by shopping on Target.com while logged into your account.

Being a Target Circle member also means free next-day delivery to your door on orders placed with Target Restock.

Bottom Line

More rewards are only a good thing, so Target expanding its program to additional cities is hopefully a signal that it will be available nationwide at some point. Currently, Target tells TPG that its plan is to iterate the program based on what they learn in these six markets, so time will tell if the rest of us get a chance to see what award Target wants to give us for our birthday.

Image courtesy of Target.

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Editorial disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airline or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.

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