Target Corporation has announced plans to roll out a new generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tool for its store employees at all of its nearly 2,000 stores by August this year.

The tool, called Store Companion, will be launched as an app on store associates’ handheld devices. Reportedly, it will help team members answer process- and procedure-related questions, coach new team members, support store operations, and more.

Target’s in-house technology team has developed the generative AI chatbot in about six months by using frequently asked questions and process-related documents from stores across the U.S. The tool is currently in pilot testing at about 400 locations, ahead of the planned rollout.

How the Store Companion tool works

The Store Companion chatbot will be available as an app on store team members' specially equipped handheld devices, providing immediate answers to their questions about processes and procedures. For example, team members can input prompts like "How do I sign a guest up for a Target Circle Card?" and "How do I restart the cash register in the event of a power outage?" and receive instructions and resources in seconds. The tool also serves as a store process expert and coach, helping new and seasonal team members learn on the job.

“We know technology will continue to play an outsized role in the future of retail — for our team members, our guests, and our business,” CIO Brett Craig said in a statement.

“With that in mind, we’re continually experimenting with new tools to make it even easier for our team to do their jobs and to bring more of what guests love about shopping at Target to life. The transformative nature of Gen AI is helping us accelerate the rate of innovation across our operations, and we’re excited about the role these new tools and applications will play in driving growth,” Craig added.

In addition, Target is also using generative AI to enhance product display pages to display personalized customer search results and summaries of product reviews. Also, the corporation has already begun guided searches on its online store. This enhanced search experience will be available to all customers later this summer.

PODCAST | Drive Business Value With Data to Stay Relevant as CDO — Schneider Electric Group CDO