<p>Target Corp reported a 17.2% rise in comparable sales for the holiday season on Wednesday as online sales more than doubled, thanks to faster deliveries and higher demand for home goods, electronics and beauty products.</p>.<p>A large chunk of the sales growth came from same-day deliveries and store pick-up services, areas where the Minneapolis-based retailer has been investing heavily during the Covid-19 pandemic.</p>.<p>Deep-pocketed retailers such as Target and Walmart Inc are using the disruption brought on by the health crisis as an opportunity to gain market share from smaller brick-and-mortar rivals and invest heavily in their online businesses.</p>.<p>Target's sales through Shipt same-day delivery service jumped more than 300% in the November-December period, while demand at its Drive Up service where customers go to stores to collect their orders jumped more than six fold.</p>.<p>"While the retail dynamic created by the pandemic muddies the relevance of year-over-year comparisons... we expect Target's superior execution ability to drive margins that will result in significant profitability for Q4," Moody's analyst Charlie O'Shea said.</p>.<p>The retailer's store traffic also rose 4.3% during the holiday season as people combined their shopping trips and limited it to large retailers amid a surge in pandemic.</p>.<p>Target said sales trends so far in January has been strong. Analysts on average expect its fourth-quarter comparable sales, which includes January, to rise 12.7%. Its sales in the third quarter had risen 20.7%.</p>.<p>Shares of Target were marginally up in premarket trading. They have jumped about 60% over the last 12 months as the retailer has emerged as one of the pandemic winners.</p>
<p>Target Corp reported a 17.2% rise in comparable sales for the holiday season on Wednesday as online sales more than doubled, thanks to faster deliveries and higher demand for home goods, electronics and beauty products.</p>.<p>A large chunk of the sales growth came from same-day deliveries and store pick-up services, areas where the Minneapolis-based retailer has been investing heavily during the Covid-19 pandemic.</p>.<p>Deep-pocketed retailers such as Target and Walmart Inc are using the disruption brought on by the health crisis as an opportunity to gain market share from smaller brick-and-mortar rivals and invest heavily in their online businesses.</p>.<p>Target's sales through Shipt same-day delivery service jumped more than 300% in the November-December period, while demand at its Drive Up service where customers go to stores to collect their orders jumped more than six fold.</p>.<p>"While the retail dynamic created by the pandemic muddies the relevance of year-over-year comparisons... we expect Target's superior execution ability to drive margins that will result in significant profitability for Q4," Moody's analyst Charlie O'Shea said.</p>.<p>The retailer's store traffic also rose 4.3% during the holiday season as people combined their shopping trips and limited it to large retailers amid a surge in pandemic.</p>.<p>Target said sales trends so far in January has been strong. Analysts on average expect its fourth-quarter comparable sales, which includes January, to rise 12.7%. Its sales in the third quarter had risen 20.7%.</p>.<p>Shares of Target were marginally up in premarket trading. They have jumped about 60% over the last 12 months as the retailer has emerged as one of the pandemic winners.</p>