First Look: Target’s new 'Connected Living' in-store pilot

Target Corp. is testing some of the concepts from its innovative Open House format in San Francisco in a traditional store setting.

The discounter has debuted Connected Living, an in-store experience dedicated to showing customers how connected products can work together to make life easier, more convenient and more efficient. The test is taking place in Target’s Ridgedale location in Minnetonka, Minnesota.

Target modeled the pilot on lessons learned from Open House, which uses a physical “house” space and LED screens to illustrate how connected products work in a real-life setting. In Ridgedale,  the chain has taken these learnings and translated them for customers in the form of discovery tables and LED screens dedicated to categories ranging from wellness to baby.

The pilot Connected Living space is organized into six sections and feature a dedicated expert, animated discovery tables and Open House-style LED screens to tell stories that illustrate a product’s usefulness and ability to work with other devices. The different sections feature many of the same products currently on display at Open House.

“There is tremendous untapped potential here, and we’ve been steadily adding more connected products to our assortment.” said Scott Nygaard, senior VP, merchandising, hardlines, Target. “But the market is still early and consumers are focused on single-use, single-benefit products. Our goal is to educate and inspire guests about the potential of connected devices, and take learnings from the test to refine the experience with the hope of eventually expanding it to more stores.”