Target announced to start the new year that stores will be closed on Thanksgiving Day 2021 after a reimagiend holiday season amid the pandemic.
After closing stores for Thanksgiving Day in 2020, the company announced they will shut their doors again for the holiday in 2021 to better meet the needs of workers and customers.
"We also closed our stores on Thanksgiving Day in order to minimize crowds and help our guests take the stress out of getting the best deals of the season," a release said. "The response was so positive that we’ll carry it forward this year, keeping our Target stores closed all day long on Thanksgiving Day."
Target said in December, customers purchased 150 million items using stores drive up and pickup services, which is almost four times more than 2019. The company broke records the same month as Target said teams fulfilled 6.5 million items through drive up or pickup -- the most in a single day.
"Sales on our industry-leading contactless same-day services—Drive Up, Order Pickup and Shipt—grew a combined 193% as more guests made them a part of their routine and leaned on them for holiday must-haves," the company said.
Target added that the company's Cyber Week 2020 was their biggest to date with "record-high" digital orders, website traffic and Drive up orders. Target said comparable digital sales more than doubled in November and December compared with the year-ago period, while comparable store sales grew by 4.2%.
With the coronavirus pandemic still sweeping the U.S. during the holidays, Target customers picked up 5.1 million grocery orders, according to a release.
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While online sales remained robust, shoppers also visited Target's stores and spent more money per purchase than they did last holiday season. Combined transactions in Target stores and on its website rose 4.3% and average tickets grew by 12.3% year over year, the company said.
