Online Weekly Ad
Target
Target wanted to reinvent the online version of their Weekly Ad in an effort to reach new guests. The Online Weekly Ad is a section of Target.com that shows product deals from the printed ad inserted in the Sunday newspaper. Weekly Ad is the most visited section of the website, with more than 1.2 million unique visitors every week. The old Online Weekly Ad was a simple page-through version of the paper ad.
User interviews revealed that Target's current core guests (moms in their 30s) perceive the Target Weekly Ad (both print and online) as a resource and not a traditional "ad". They plan their store trips around the special deals, they use the ad to inspire their shopping lists and they arrange their families' meals around the groceries in the ad. This insight revealed a great opportunity to enhance the online ad to be an even better resource for the current guests, as well as attract new guests.
Target also wanted to start adapting to their future core guests (women in their 20s). While newspapers decline, these guests have no relationship with the printed Weekly Ad which the online version was based on. User interviews and user testing also revealed that the younger consumers expect more interactivity and personalization of a digital medium.
The new Online Weekly Ad is a modular and customizable site that allows the users to view only the type of deals they find interesting, in the order they rank them. Users can also create custom alerts for any brand or product category and receive the alerts via Facebook, mobile or email. The interface is personalized, interactive and social, featuring a drag-and-drop portable shopping list and Facebook integration.
Credits
Work by Marie Hartmann for AKQA, in collaboration with Evan Mager, Rich Brinkerhoff, Karen Jackson, Jason Colcord, Elizabeth Tervenski, Jennifer McCormick, Dustin Blouse, Justin Pedersen and Matthew Davis.