Target and Shopify team up to expand Target’s third-party marketplace

Shopify merchants can now sell their items to Target’s millions of shoppers, thanks to a new partnership. The companies announced on Monday that sellers on the commerce platform can apply to join Target Plus, the retail giant’s third-party marketplace where merchants can sell and manage orders.

Target is the first major retailer to collaborate with Shopify to introduce its merchants’ products into physical stores. The initial group of Shopify sellers to be featured at Target include True Classic and Caden Lane, among others. 

Target Plus launched in 2019 to allow consumers to discover new products from third-party retailers, such as Crocs, Maui Jim, Timberland and Ruggable. However, the retailer lags behind rivals like Amazon, eBay and Walmart. In the face of stiff competition, Target is making a strategic move by partnering with Shopify to boost its third-party marketplace, which currently hosts 1,200 sellers, a fraction of Amazon’s nearly 2 million selling partners and Walmart’s 135,000. 

The partnership announcement follows Target’s unsatisfactory quarterly results, which showed a 3.7% decline in comparable sales. This marks the fourth quarter in a row of decreasing comparable sales for the company. Additionally, Target’s overall sales dropped by 3.2% in the first quarter of 2024.