Target Announces They’re Ending Their Perks Pilot Program
Sad news for devoted Target shoppers: The Minnesota based retailer announced this week that they’re discontinuing their Cartwheel Perks loyalty program.
Cartwheel Perks was introduced as a pilot program in five test markets last September, CNBC notes—Denver, Houston, San Diego, St. Louis and Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina. Members who made in store purchases racked up points which, once a threshold was met, could be redeemed for items such as apparel, food, sunglasses, etc.
The retailer sent an email to all current Perks users on Wednesday announcing that the last day to collect points is August 27th; September 27th will be the last day to redeem perks for points.
“Creating simple, convenient and fun digital tools for Target guests means listening carefully to guest feedback and regularly making adjustments based on what we hear,” Target told CNBC. “That’s why we’ve begun phasing out the pilot Cartwheel Perks program.”
Some users aren’t happy about the news, though. Real Simple noted some shoppers were taking to Twitter:
Half the reason I go to @Target and use Cartwheel so often is the Perks, so I’m a little upset that they’re ending it. ?
— Michelle (@Michelle_523) July 20, 2017
@Target getting rid of the #CartwheelPerks is like McDonalds getting rid of their Egg McMuffin.
— ? (@JtotheAC) July 21, 2017
But Target mentioned that there’s something else on the way that might be better: “We had many learnings about how to engage and reward guests that we plan to leverage in the future,” the company said about the pilot. “We look forward to sharing more about exciting changes coming soon to the Cartwheel and Target apps.”
To be clear, Target is just getting rid of Cartwheel Perks, and not the Cartwheel app all together:
We never want to disappoint our guests! We’re only discontinuing Cartwheel Perks not Cartwheel altogether.
— AskTarget (@AskTarget) July 26, 2017