This is what we mean by designing an experience for our guests, looking at a service through their eyes, using Target technology to rapidly iterate and introduce new capabilities, and finding ways to not only meet their needs but add something extra to make their day. That’s the Target experience. You saw that from us in 2023 as we continued on our path to be America’s favorite discovery destination. Our stores are known as a getaway spot, somewhere you can go and enjoy a few minutes or a few hours browsing the aisles with friendly team members to help you find just what you need. We’re bringing that same sense of exploration and relaxation to guests who walk through our digital front door. Last year, shoppers visited us more than 6 billion times on our digital channels looking for the same warmth, newness, and discovery that greets them when they walk into one of front doors.
In fact, more than half of guests who make a purchase in our stores have visited our app or our site that very same day, reinforcing how shoppers move fluidly from physical to online and back again. Target is uniquely suited to be there for our guests when inspiration strikes because of our agile technology and the pathways we create between stores, digital, social, marketing and more. The experience we created this past holiday season is a great example. This year, there was clear connectivity across our experience to create a memorable and meaningful visit no matter how you chose to shop with us. Holiday gateways in store and online, digital gifting stations, product packaging to make you smile, in-store playlists to set the mood, festive TikTok content, and Target Wonderland community pop up events.
These all work together to celebrate the holidays with our guests in a way that only Target can. Our ongoing investment in our digital capabilities enabled this year’s fully connected holiday celebration. In 2023, we transformed our digital experience from a utilitarian shopping platform that was one size fits all to one that is filled with warmth, greets you personally just like Amelia would, and delivers a custom blend of newness, trend, value, and ease just for you. And it’s not just what the guests see, but what’s happening behind the scenes to power these personalized experiences. We’re using generative AI to power our product detail pages to provide more friendly and relevant explanations of what guests wanna know about our assortment.
AI also powers features like Shop the Look and our Get It Now assistant, which lets you know when items in your cart are available for pickup at a nearby store. It’s also the engine behind the insights we use to give guests more personal experiences and rewards through our loyalty program, Target Circle. And it’s a key element of how we create thoughtfully curated campaigns for consumers through our advertising business, Roundel. This might be a good time to talk about how Roundel seamlessly integrates into the guest experience and continues to drive more than $1.5 billion in value for our business. Growing more than 20% in 2023, Roundel is the powerful bridge between our guests and the brands they love. Roundel works with more than 2600 vendors to deliver creative that is resonant and wholly consistent with the Target experience.
In return, our guests receive content that speaks directly to their interests and preferences. Take our holiday campaign with Apple. Tech products top many guest holiday gift lists, so we work with Apple on a comprehensive campaign to keep their products front and center for our guests this holiday season. With custom content designed to reach our guests across a number of platforms, including Connected TV, YouTube and social media. Our co-created holiday video ad made us the first Apple partner to highlight the new double tap feature on its Watch Series 9 in a spot. To add relevance, we used AI on our site to position the right products in the right moments. Think serving up promotions to RedCard holders so they get the best deal plus extra 5% off by using their card.
Or helping a guest find the perfect gift for their teenager. Hint, go for the AirPods Pro. This integrated campaign tapped into our powerful ecosystem of digital, social, marketing, and merchandising absolutely resonated with shoppers. We deepened relationships with existing fans and attracted new ones with a significantly higher new guest rate compared to prior Apple campaigns at Target. In addition to the way Roundel powers the guest experience when guests are browsing our app or website, unique to Target is our media mix. With 35% of revenue being generated outside of our own properties. That means that we’re able to connect with consumers wherever they are like on social or streaming platforms, driving more than 250 million visits to Target properties in 2023.
And social is increasingly where our guests are. We have more followers than any other mass retailer on TikTok with incredibly high engagement, which underscores our opportunity to connect the love that guests have for us on social to a smooth path to purchase in stores and on our digital properties. Our guests use social to stay in touch with the latest trends in a way that feels specifically designed for them. So, we’re working across the spectrum of social from user generated content and Target creators to our talent partners and Target owned platforms to make it easier for guests to maintain that discovery mindset as they shop. Over the coming year, you’ll see us experimenting to bring off platform content onto our digital properties so guests can find inspiration right on their site in our app.
And we’ll blend social and commerce to create an experience that taps into real time trends and makes offline inspiration to online purchase intuitive and easy. So, imagine a guest looking for just the right things for a housewarming celebration. They open our app which is personalized just for them and type in housewarming party ideas. Using generative AI search, they see the latest products that fit their style and preferences, including delicious snacks from Good & Gather, chic party supplies, modern glassware, and even some new party outfits. We brought the fun of wandering the aisles of our stores alongside inspiration from lifestyle influencers to spark new finds, like beautiful living room decor. Our guest uses 3D visualization to see it in their space and AI powered reviews to learn more.
They love it and snap it up along with their must have party supplies. Within a few hours, their hall arrives thanks to same day delivery. They love the items so much, they share their finds on social media, inspiring other guests to shop Target. This is the future our teams are working on today. A seamless fluid shopping experience across stores, digital, and social, and centered on what our guests want and need. And knowing what our guests want and need, deepening our connection with them and making millions of guests feel that every visit is made just for them is at the heart of our loyalty program, Target Circle. We introduced the program in 2019 as a way to say thank you to guests with deals, rewards, and perks. Today, we have more than a 100 million members who have earned $2 billion in rewards.
Members have told us how much they value the program and it shows. Last year, they visited us five times more often and spent 5 times more than guests who aren’t members of Target Circle yet. And our personalized deals and bonus offers powered by our proprietary technology drove $1.5 billion in incremental sales last year. Yet members have also told us that it could be even easier to save and know how much they’re saving. So we took this opportunity not just to improve our program but to reimagine how we think about loyalty across the entirety of our experience. So today, I am thrilled to introduce a new Target Circle. One that brings the best of Target together under one loyalty program. Here’s a short video that we created to sum up what’s new and what’s next.
Female Voice Since Target’s inception, we’ve been focused on loyalty and really deepening the relationships that we have with our guests. More than 30 years ago, we debuted our Target RedCard credit card. We took another step forward in 2019, introducing our formal loyalty program, Target Circle. Target Circle allows us to connect with guests and have a two-way relationship where we really get to understand you, and we’re able to deliver personalized deals and offers and an experience that’s just right for you. We knew we needed to evolve Target Circle by listening directly to our guests, and we listen deeply. And the reality is that we have some friction in the program today, and so we are leaning in to ease. We want all of our guests to feel welcome and appreciated each and every time that they shop with us, and the upgraded Target Circle experience allows us to do just that.
So, we know our guests like Target Circle, but our ambition is to have our guests love Target Circle, and that is why we’re bringing three programs together. We are investing in ease and simplicity within Target Circle. Scan your app at checkout, and you get deals automatically. We are investing in instant 5% savings, free two-day shipping, extended return windows in Target Circle Card, and then we are bringing unlimited same day delivery in as little as an hour to our guests within Target Circle 360. By evolving and upgrading our experience, we’re gonna make it even easier for our guests to interact with Target in a way that feels right for them. We’re confident with the relaunch of Target Circle that not only will our current guest shoppers more often, but we’re well positioned to welcome even more new shoppers to Target.
It really is the best way to get more Target. Reimagining Target Circle is one of the biggest initiatives for us as a company in the next year and really accelerates the company’s next phase of growth.
Cara Sylvester: So bringing together Target Circle, Target Circle card, and Target Circle 360 simplifies and expands how we deliver value to our guests. And as we’ve been talking about, we’ve designed the program to give guests flexibility and control in how they shop. There’s the Target Circle our guests know and love today that gives every member access to the best deals and rewards at Target. There’s absolutely no cost to join. What’s new is they can now shop Target without having to search for and add offers. Deals are automatically applied at checkout, plus, they’ll continue to receive partner perks with Ulta Beauty and Apple and even more rewards through personalized bonuses based on their shopping behavior. For those guests who wanna save even more, Target Circle card offers an extra 5% off each trip.
This is on top of the automatic savings they receive as Target Circle members, plus free two-day shipping, extended time for returns, and no annual fee. And with credit card, debit card, or reloadable card options, consumers can find the product that’s right for them. And finally, for those who want the magic of Target delivered to their door in as little as one hour, there’s Target Circle 360. An extension of the same day capabilities we’ve built since our acquisition of Shipt in 2017, Target Circle 360 members can order everything from groceries to household essentials to the newest must have item with no additional fees, no markups, and support from a preferred shopper. Members even have access to Shipt’s multi retailer marketplace, which gives them access to even more items from their favorite local stores.
No waiting for days for boxes to arrive on your doorstep, just unlimited same day delivery that we’re rolling out to guests at the promotional price of $49, which will be the standard price for Target Circle card holders. Guests will have access to the new Target Circle starting April 7th, and we can’t wait for them to feel the difference. This is just the beginning for Target Circle. Our AI powered models will continue to deepen our relationship with guests and enable us to deliver one-on -one personalization at scale. And with this new foundation in place, we’ll continue adding benefits and perks based on what matters most to our guests, like exclusive partnerships, product offers, and more so they can get the most out of shopping at Target.
This goes back full circle, pun intended, to how people are shopping today. Shopping’s dynamic and so are we. The investments we’re making reflect our focus on consumers’ preferences and needs. So, we continue to be their first choice for discovery, delight, and experiences that make them smile. That’s Target’s guest experience at its best. Building connection and celebrating everyday moments in meaningful and memorable ways. Moving with our guests through their lives so we’re able to bring joy whenever we can. That’s the Target magic, and it’s what fuels our future. Now I’d like to welcome a familiar face with an expanded title to the stage, Michael Fiddelke.
Michael Fiddelke: Thanks, and good morning everyone. As Cara just mentioned, I’ve recently taken on a new role. And while I’ll be staying on as CFO for a little while longer, I’m honored and excited to be leading our incredible operations team as Chief Operating Officer. As an engineer by training, I’ve always had a passion and respect for the work of my new team and I’ve learned a lot working with them and alongside them during my 20 plus years at Target. As John Hulbert would tell you, over the years, I’ve often added complexity to our investor travel so we could squeeze in just one more store visit. And throughout the recent holiday season and so far this new year, it’s been great to have an opportunity to spend even more time with teams in both our stores and supply chain facilities.
While our financial conversations often focus on the metrics we use to assess our performance, there’s no substitute for seeing firsthand the strength of our operations, the benefits that come from well managed inventory and newness, and hearing what our talented team is focused on building for the future. So before I move into the financial portion of my remarks, I’m gonna spend a few minutes on my priorities as I move into this new role. And as I’ve mentioned to my new team, I’m coming into this job at a time when our operations are in a very strong position. As such, my top priority is to build on the foundation that John Mulligan and the team have already established, and I’m fortunate to have an outstanding group of leaders already in place.
As you’ve heard from John over the years, the operations team is focused on advancing multiple long-term initiatives to expand our footprint, modernize how we support our business and advance our company strategy. These efforts begin with investments in our store network, developing new locations, remodeling existing ones, supporting key partnerships like Ulta Beauty, enhancing our same day services and more. We’re also transforming our supply chain. This includes our journey to automate upstream replenishment with a focus on reducing store workload and increasing reliability. It also includes the build out of our sortation center network which offers faster delivery times while meaningfully reducing the cost of last mile delivery. Beyond this investment in our infrastructure, we’re partnering with teams across the company to enhance our inventory positioning and demand forecasting, leveraging AI and machine learning to enhance our speed, consistency, and efficiency.
And of course, we’re focused on the support and development of our team including their pay, benefits, training and well-being. As I’ve said consistently during my time as CFO, our team is our most valuable asset and I’m bringing that perspective into my new role. As Christina mentioned earlier, beginning last year our team renewed their focus on retail fundamentals after several years of managing through unusually high volatility. These efforts focus first on in stocks but encompassed a broad array of measures relating to guest experience. In total last year, our store teams rolled out new training on 25 separate best practices and we’ve seen the benefit in our recent guest surveys. While those initial improvements are encouraging, we’ll continue on that journey throughout this year to ensure we’re setting the standard for the shopping experience in U.S. retail.
So now let me turn to our financial results. And while our focus today is on the future, I’m also gonna give a look back for perspective on our longer-term trajectory. I’ll begin with a review of last year’s financial performance and then examine how it compares with a decade ago. With that context, I’ll look ahead to our aspirations over the next 10 years and conclude with our outlook for 2024. It’s clear that last year was unusual as top line results came in below our guidance. But our bottom-line performance came in well ahead of expectations. For the full year, we saw a 3.7% decline in our comparable sales reflecting quarterly traffic trends that varied widely from the strongest performance in Q1 to the softest in Q2 and an improving trend in Q3 and Q4.
