Right in the bullseye... Target nailed it last year. Sales jumped a record 20%, up $15B+ from 2019 — that's more than Target's total sales growth over the last 11 years. Online order pickup and delivery soared, as you grabbed mini waffle makers curbside. Target's 1.9K US stores are key to its success: Tarjay uses stores as fulfillment hubs, and 95% of sales came from stores in 2020. Customers who shop both in-store and digitally spend ~4X more money than those who shop only in-store — and nearly 10X more than online-only shoppers. That's why Target plans to invest $4B into stores each year.
Forgot the cashew pesto... Instacart raised $265M in fresh funding, catapulting it to a $39B valuation — that's more than double its last valuation in October. It's the second time in a year that Instacart's valuation has doubled after bagging venture capital $$$. No shocker there: grocery and delivery have thrived during the pandemic — Instacart has both. In June of last year, Instacart claimed more than half of the online grocery delivery market. Now, it's reportedly considering going public through a direct listing.