Target reported last week that it experienced double-digit sales gains in its fiscal 2020 first quarter, led by growth in online pickup and delivery, especially in food and beverage. Online sales climbed 141% compared to the same quarter last year.
However, investments related to the coronavirus, including customer and employee safety, worker compensation, supply chain changes and online fulfillment, impacted the Target’s bottom line as the company missed Wall Street’s earnings forecast.
The overall news was still good for the mega retailer. For the quarter, sales were $19.37 billion, up 11.3% from a year ago, and comp-sales increased 10.8% year over year. Same-day services like Order Pick Up, Drive Up and Shipt home delivery increased 278%.
“To put this volume into perspective, on an average day in April, our operations were fulfilling many more items and orders than last year’s Cyber Monday, a day for which we had planned months ahead of time,” said CEO Brian Cornell.
More than 5 million new customers shopped on Target.com during the quarter.