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Brian Cornell, CEO of Target, welcome to Stanford and to Systems Leadership.
>> It is great to be here.
>> Brian, tell us a little bit about the recent successes of Target.
At a time when retail's been struggling,
you've had a good run the last 6 to 12 months.
What's made that possible?
>> Well it's really a combination of a number of things that we've been working
on for several years now.
And if l go back to February of 2017,
we laid out a kind of a three year vision for the company.
We said we are going to invest billions of dollars.
At that point l said $7 billion over a three year period.
To invest in reimagining our stores, in building new smaller stores in urban
centers and on college campuses, reinvest in our brands, invest in technology and
fulfillment capabilities, and make a big investment in our people.
And the success we're seeing right now is really a combination of all those elements
starting to mature, we're executing its scale, and
they're all starting to work together.
That's driving for us great top line growth, market share gains, and,
importantly, more traffic in our stores and visits to our site.
>> So let's talk about that.
How do you envision the customer experience over the next five to ten
years and that blend between digital and physical?
>> Yeah, I actually think blend is the right term.
And I think from a consumer standpoint, they've really lost sight of whether
they're shopping in a physical environment or a digital environment.
In most cases, their shopping starts with that mobile phone in their hands,
that digital device, and its how they decide where they going to shop,
what they are looking for.
If you walked one of our target store this afternoon I guarantee we'd find consumers
with a phone in their hand, maybe looking at their latest Pinterest, maybe checking
things on their favorite digital site, they'd have their shopping list there.
So that device really guides them through the shopping experience.
So I think more and more there's a blurring and
a blending that's taking place and it's a combination of both.
And I think the consumer today is enjoying the fact that shopping's become
really easy.
They get the best of both.
They get a physical experience when they want it.
When they don't have time, they can shop from their desk or from their classroom.
Let's hope not. >> Our kids are never on their phones when
they're in class.
>> Let's hope not.
But, they're constantly in touch, and we've made it really easy now for
them to interface with our brand on their own terms.
>> So Target has a very large presence here in the Valley.
You have many, many data scientists and data analytics.
Tell us a little bit about how you thought about building that competency inside of
the organization and having such a large presence here in Silicon Valley.
>> So we dropped back several years ago and
started thinking about building the Target of the future.
It really started with an investment and understanding the consumer and really
understanding what they were looking for, and how do we build the capabilities,
starting with data science, to really guide us through that journey.
So while I can talk a lot about strategy, the other thing that we've recognized
is how important it is to have the right capabilities in place, and
whether that's technology or supply chain capabilities for
us, product design, our focus on execution at store level.
But data and analytics has been an important guidepost for
us as we've gone through this journey.
>> Is it hard to recruit people, in this area,
when they may not be familiar with all of the capabilities that Target has?
Or what's that been like?
>> Well, we've been fortunate.
We've recruited quite a few Stanford grads, and
I think what's attracting them to our business is the richness of our data.
The fact that, on an average week, we get 30 million consumers shopping our stores.
A similar number going to target.com.
So we have all this rich data,
and we understand where consumers are shopping, what they're looking for.
And I think they've been really intrigued by the ability to take that data and
help us build a future.
>> You have been in the retail business, the grocery business, the CPG business for
the last 20 plus years.
What are the biggest changes you've seen and
how do you image things continue to evolve over the next decade?
>> Well, I've certainly seen this trend towards personalization and localization.
And if I think about the changes in consumer packaged goods,
in some cases those big brands that you and I grew up with, well,
they've been replaced by smaller, local, niche brands.
Brands that we didn't see when we grew up, and
they're being regionalized across the country.
So I think the consumer today is looking for that unique personalized experience,
whether they're shopping at Target store or
they're walking through our local store right here on the Stanford campus.
>> As you think about your time as the CEO, what's been the biggest surprise
that you didn't expect that you look back on and say, I had no idea that was coming?
>> Yeah, I think I walked in recognizing the importance of a clear strategy for
an organization, but I've come to realize just how important culture is,
a clear purpose, and importantly, as I said before, ensuring that that
strategy is supported by great capabilities, and the importance of team.
>> If you and I were sitting here in 2029 doing this interview again,
what do you think Target will stand for for your customers at that moment in time?
>> Yeah, I think we'll still be true to the purpose we have today.
And it's really focused on bringing a little bit of joy to all the families we
serve each and every week and really enhancing their everyday life.
So I think that focus on families, that connection we have today with moms,
with kids, with families across the country,
I think it'll be as true in the future as it is today.
>> Brian Cornell, CEO of Target, welcome to Stanford and thank you so much.
>> Great to be here, thanks.
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