Target boosts associate support to strengthen customer experience

Target is betting that stronger support for store associates will show up where shoppers feel it most, on the floor. The company said it will make an incremental $1 billion operating investment in 2026, including hundreds of millions of dollars for additional store payroll and training, as it tries to steady service and lift the customer experience.

That push is not just about nicer signage or brighter displays. Target said the 2026 plan includes more changes inside stores than any year in the last decade, with updated floor plans and enhanced in-store displays, alongside more than $1 billion in extra capital spending for a total of about $5 billion. The company said the payroll and training money is meant to create a more consistent in-store experience centered on being “delightful, inspiring and easy.”

The timing matters for the people running the sales floor, not just the people approving the budget. Target reported full-year 2025 GAAP earnings per share of $8.13 and adjusted EPS of $7.57, while fourth-quarter revenue and store traffic fell. The new plan, unveiled after Michael Fiddelke became chief executive, places labor, layout and execution at the center of the turnaround rather than treating staffing as a background expense.

That lines up with a broader retail argument that customer experience depends on employee experience first. Gartner has estimated average retail associate turnover at about 60%, and its research says investing in frontline workers’ physical and mental well-being can reduce attrition and improve resilience. It also says retail workforce management tools can help cut avoidable turnover by giving workers more flexibility in how they are scheduled.

For Target team members, that theory only matters if it changes daily work. More training can help newer hires handle guest questions, returns and restocking without leaning so hard on a stretched leadership team. Better staffing can reduce the constant scramble that burns out experienced workers and leaves guests waiting for answers. In a chain that sells brand pride as part of the job, the test is whether support reaches the people who are expected to keep the store moving every hour of the day.

Target has also leaned on its existing people programs to reinforce that message. The company says its starting wage range is $15 to $24 an hour, with an average hourly wage of $18.50 for frontline team members. Its team-member discount marked its 50th anniversary in 2025, and its Dream to Be education benefit covers about 500 tuition-free or partially funded programs at more than 40 schools, colleges and universities.

The company’s Store Director Development Program is aimed at giving store leaders skills, support and peer connections, another sign that Target sees the front end and the management layer as linked. If the 2026 plan works, the payoff will not be measured only in remodels or capital spending. It will show up in shorter lines, steadier shifts and stores where associates have enough backing to make the guest experience feel less rushed and more reliable.