Redesign the Cart-Based Shopping Trip in Target's Physical Stores

You are a product manager at Target. How would you make the experience of shopping with a cart in Target's physical stores better? Decide which guests to focus on, identify their problems during a trip with a cart, propose and prioritize improvements, and explain how you would measure whether they work. ```hint Follow one cart through one trip Picture a single visit from taking a cart at the entrance to leaving it in the parking lot, and mark the moments where a particular kind of guest struggles. Improvements are easier to judge when they target one segment's worst moment. ``` ### Clarifying Questions - Does "shopping cart experience" mean the physical cart itself, or the whole trip a guest makes with a cart, from the entrance through checkout to the car? - Which outcome matters most: bigger baskets, faster and easier trips, more frequent visits, or lower operating cost (lost and damaged carts, staff time spent collecting them)? - Is there a budget limit per cart, or a constraint on adding electronics to a fleet that spans every store? - Should the improvement connect to the Target app and loyalty program, or must it work for guests who never take out a phone? ### What a Strong Answer Covers - Why the cart matters to Target's stores and which business outcome the improvement serves. - Guest segments, a chosen focus segment with reasons, and a map of that segment's trip with the cart. - Specific pain points and solutions ranging from simple fixes to connected technology, prioritized by impact, cost across the whole fleet, and feasibility. - Success metrics and guardrails (store operating cost, theft, child safety, accessibility), plus a store-level pilot to test the ideas. ### Follow-up Questions - A cart with a screen and scanner tests well with guests but costs many times more than a standard cart. How would you decide whether to roll it out? - More guests now order online and pick up their purchases. Does that change how much you would invest in the in-store cart? - How would you design the pilot so that differences between stores do not hide the effect?