Target Canada failed to bring into line its localization approach with its global approach. Target failed to comprehend the Canadian market, gathering consumer expectations and familiarizing locale requirements which eventually contributed to the closure of Target Canada. Furthermore, its failure to offer consumers with a local online shopping knowledge may perhaps see Target’s new e-commerce store also fail in Canada. As a result, Canadians never completely accepted the American chain (The Globe and Mail, 2015).
Market research: Despite similarities amongst the two countries, Canada is not an extension of the U.S. There are some dissimilarities which Target ignored at the start which are; Canada being more culturally and linguistically different, Canadian market is small compared to U.S and the dissimilarities in Canadian legislations and regulations. Target entered Canada without any knowledge about the operations and distribution channels hence; it made an influence on supply chain, on pricing, on product selection and on customer perception.
Export the Target brand: Target had to explain its U.S brand and notion to the Canadians while distinguishing itself from the already crowded reduction landscape. It also had to discover and adapt the shopping habits of Canadians and providing what consumers were expecting. However, it never discovered the balance nor provided the experience to shop. Limited products, empty shelves and high prices left Canadian consumers feeling short-changed. Moreover, Target lost its quality of being trusted and believed in with Canadian consumers and never retrieved from it.
Consumer shopping habits: Target decided to stress more on its development of physical stores rather than e-commerce, at a point when Canadians had already adapted social media, smartphones and online shopping. Target had a Canadian website but didn’t sell anything on it instead it led consumers to the U.S website to compare prices and further distance consumers from the brand. Having an online store could have assisted Target gather statistics to enlighten decisions on local preferences and demand.
Targeting Canada, once again: After closing its last Canadian store, Target launched an e-commerce website to assist the local market since Canadians find what they want domestically. Nevertheless, the website readdressed them to the U.S website and to subdomain. The Canadian website did not have a worldwide gateway page.
