Bergen County Target Stores Offering Same-Day Home Delivery

Shoppers at Bergen County Target stores will soon have the option to order items online and get them delivered to their home the same day thanks to a new service being offering in New Jersey.

Target acquired Shipt in December 2017. Shipt is a subsidiary of Target. It is a membership-based service, Target said in a news release.

More than 55,000 groceries, essentials, home, electronics, toys, and other products are covered under the service, which is scheduled to begin in the next three weeks.

"This marks Shipt's inaugural launch in New Jersey, giving more than 2.6 million households across the state access to products delivered by Shipt Shoppers in as little as one hour," the news release said.

As part of the launch, annual Shipt memberships will be available for $49; the regular price is $99, the company said.

Target said the service is part of its efforts to make shopping at the store more convenient as it and other brick-and-mortar retailers battle to keep business that has increasingly been sucked away by online retailers, especially Amazon.com.

Shoppers browse and select items through an app, choose a one-hour delivery window and pay for their order. Shipt then uses paid shoppers who select, bag and deliver the items. The annual membership grants access to free, unlimited delivery on orders of more than $35, the company said.

The initial offerings for same-day delivery will include groceries, essentials, home, electronics and other products, while expanding the products offered over time. By the end of 2019, same-day delivery will include all major product categories at Target, the company said.

"We laid out an ambitious strategic agenda in early 2017, which included a focus on giving our guests a number of convenient ways to shop with Target, whether it's ordering online and picking up in one of our stores, driving up to pick up an order, or taking advantage of services like our new Restock program," said John Mulligan, executive vice president and chief operating officer for Target. "By the 2018 holiday season, we will be servicing every major market across the country with same-day delivery."

In addition to offering discounted memberships, Shipt is hiring people to be the shoppers who will fulfill the orders. To apply to be a Shipt shopper, visit Shipt.com and click "Get Paid to Shop."

Email daniel.hubbard@patch.com

Photo provided by Shipt