The strategy: Target is homing in on the baby category to help it recover from its yearslong sales slump.

• The retailer launched its Baby Boutique concept in nearly 200 stores in March, enabling parents to test and compare products from premium brands like UPPAbaby and Bugaboo.
• It also introduced a Baby Concierge service, available by appointment in-store or virtually, to offer parents personalized, one-on-one guidance.

To drive awareness of these offerings, Target is hosting its biannual car seat trade-in event from April 19 to May 2.

• Shoppers who bring in any car seat to a participating store will receive a 20% Target Circle bonus.
• Target is also offering deals across a number of categories including baby, toys, food and beverage, and apparel.
• Select stores will have giveaways, samples, and other activations on April 25 and 26.

The rationale: Baby is a promising category for Target. Its new baby boutiques could help fill the gap after buybuy Baby’s closure, which left parents with fewer avenues to test premium baby gear in person and receive advice and recommendations from professionals. By offering a high-touch, curated experience, Target can position itself as parents’ go-to retailer for baby supplies, from car seats to wipes to baby food and clothing, which could potentially translate to deeper loyalty and higher lifetime value.

Those revamped stores fit with Target’s broader aim to serve “busy families,” a segment that drives outsize sales growth and is more loyal to the retailer. Refreshing its baby department allows Target to reestablish itself as a one-stop shop for all parents’ needs—not only for children’s products but also for groceries, apparel, and other household items. “This is about earning trust early and strengthening relationships that extend well beyond the baby aisle and beyond the baby life stage,” chief merchandising officer Cara Sylvester said.

The implications: Fragmentation in the baby category could work to Target’s advantage, especially given the lack of competitors with a similar combination of scale and high-touch customer service.

At the same time, success isn’t guaranteed. Kohl’s has largely stayed silent about the performance of its Babies R Us shop-in-shops, which are in about 200 of its department stores. The retailer reduced the size of some of those locations in mid-2025, a possible indication that the baby business was not as big a traffic driver as it hoped.

However, Kohl’s did note last May that Babies R Us was performing well digitally, suggesting that many parents value convenience over physical product inspection. That partly tracks with our retail sales forecast, which shows that baby care products have roughly twice the ecommerce penetration of the overall household goods and personal consumables category.

Target’s success in converting parents into loyal customers hinges on delivering a seamless omnichannel experience that balances convenience with a high-touch in-store experience.