Target expands creator programs to boost social commerce and traffic

Target has split its creator push into two lanes, Club Target for everyday shoppers and fans, and Target Ambassadors for more established creators, in a move the company says is meant to make shopping more social and more tied to conversion. The retailer said the programs were announced on its News & Features page on May 6, with Target Ambassadors powered by LTK and Club Target moving out of pilot the same week. Marketing Dive reported that Target Ambassadors launched May 1, while Progressive Grocer said thousands of creators were already participating in the Club Target pilot.

For Target employees, the immediate takeaway is not just marketing. Social posts that send guests into stores can change the rhythm of a shift fast, especially when a TikTok outfit, beauty item, room refresh or seasonal find suddenly becomes a must-have. That means more questions at the service desk, more item lookups, more pressure on merchandising teams to keep endcaps and shelves accurate, and more recoveries when guests show up expecting the exact product they saw online. When social buzz turns into in-store traffic, speed and availability become part of the content cycle.

The creator expansion also sharpens the question of who gets to participate. Target described Club Target as a program for everyday shoppers and fans, while Target Ambassadors is aimed at established creators. That makes the new setup feel broader than a traditional influencer campaign, but still structured around outside content, not a side hustle perk for store workers. For team members who already post online, the practical issue is how any outside creator activity fits with conflict-of-interest expectations and the line between personal promotion and company business.

Target has been reworking that lane for months. Marketing Dive said the company wound down a creator affiliate program introduced in 2023, and Ad Age reported April 16 that Target scrapped its commission-based Creator Program in favor of a gamified rewards model built around challenges and rewards. Sarah Travis, Target’s chief digital and revenue officer, said the earlier transition was disruptive for some creators, but that the company is building a stronger and more future-ready model.

The timing fits Target’s bigger turnaround plan. On March 3, Michael Fiddelke said the company would make an incremental $2 billion in 2026 investments, including more than $1 billion in capital expenditures and $1 billion in operating investments. Travis oversees Target’s digital business, including site merchandising, digital operations and Target Plus, and Target says Roundel reached more than 165 million omnichannel guests and drove more than 250 million visits to Target properties in 2024. With EMARKETER projecting U.S. social commerce sales will surpass $100 billion in 2026, Target is treating creator traffic as a store-floor issue, not just a social-media one.