Target finishes Buy Online, Pick Up in Store roll out early

Target Corp. has certainly come a long way with its e-commerce efforts. Two years ago, the company's website couldn't even properly process orders following the roll out of its Missoni collection.

Fast forward to 2013. As of the first week of November, all 1,800 of Target's stores in the United State offer consumers the ability pick up merchandise in the store that they had ordered online.

Buy Online, Pick Up in Store is not exactly new: Best Buy and Macy's have long offered the service. But given its ambitious timetable—CEO Gregg Steinhafel told analysts during the summer the retailer planned to complete the roll out by Black Friday—Target not only finished the job but finished it a good three weeks early.

Amy Koo, a retail analyst at Kantar Retail, expressed skepticism that Target could complete the project in such tight timeframe. But the company seems to have adopted a more cautious approach to the rollout, she said.

Unlike the launch of the redesigned Target.com in 2011, the retailer has not heavily publicized the debut of Buy Online, Pick Up in Store. Back then, critics argued that Target did not adequately test its website to see if it could handle all of the heavy traffic the Missoni collection was bound to attract.

This time though, Target opted for a "soft launch" to first the test the service on employees and some customers.

"Target did not make a big splash, which makes it easier for them to first get the hang of it ," Koo said. "It's a real good thing to ease into it rather than make a big blowout statement."

Even now, the service remains rather low key. Koo said a store she recently visited was only filling 10 to 15 orders a day.

Target is apparently still working out the bugs. A good friend in San Francisco recently complained to this blogger that the item she ordered on the website was not set aside for her when she visited the store.

"Target made up for it though by helping me find the items and helping me wheel them to my car," she said.