Walmart stores busy, Target stores, not so much

Canadians seem to be choosing Walmart over Target for their holiday shopping, according to the results of data collected for The Star on one of the last weekends before Christmas.

A snapshot of 76 stores across Canada, conducted the weekend of Dec. 13-14, found that 30 out of 38 Walmart stores were busy or very busy. Among 38 Target stores, 15 locations were busy or very busy.

The stock-out problems at Target stores seem to have diminished somewhat, with only three stores posting a score of five. The stock-outs were rated on a scale of 1-5, with 5 being the highest number of stock-outs.

Two of the Target stores reporting high stock outs were also among the busiest. Four Target stores scored a four on stockouts.

No Walmart stores scored higher than three on stock outs.

The information was collected using Field Agent Canada, a company that pays shoppers a fee to report retail information using their smart phones.

Shoppers were asked to visit a Target and a Walmart in the same neighbourhood, at about the same time, on the same day, to measure which store was busier and whether the shelves were well stocked or not.

They were asked to measure busy on a scale of one-to-five, with one being nearly empty and five being lots of people everywhere in the store.

Responses were collected from British Columbia to Nova Scotia. Among the 76 stores, 40 were in Ontario, half in the GTA.

The Target stores had an average busy score of 3.2. The Walmart stores had an average busy score of 4.1.

“We understand there are many ways to measure results. At Target, we’re focused on consistently delivering a great experience to our guests. As we’ve consistently shared, our teams are working hard to deliver that experience this fourth quarter,” Target said in a statement in response to questions from The Star.

“It has been an incredibly busy season indeed, both in our stores and online,” said Andrew Pelletier, vice president of corporate affairs at Walmart Canada, in a statement sent to The Star by the media relations department.

“Our associates have done a fantastic job making sure we’re ready to help all our customers find everything they need and save money.”

“Target is getting better, but they’re not there yet,” said Maureen Atkinson, senior partner, J.C. Williams Group, a global retail consultancy.

“The problems in Canada are not just in Canada. I think that Target just lost its mojo a bit and it’s starting to get it back, but it’s a long haul. You don’t turn around attitudes immediately, even if what you are doing is functionally better than you were formerly.

She believes that given enough time, Target could become a go-to store for Canadians.

Retail expert Wendy Evans, founder of Evans and Company, believes leaving Canada at this point would be too costly for Target, especially given the huge investment it made coming here – it spent $1.8-billion on store leases alone. It built three distribution centres.

“If this quarter in the U.S. is really poor, and it’s a question of saving the mothership, then I guess that would be one of their decisions, but I think it would be very costly to leave this market. I think they either have to build it up and sell it or build it up and operate it profitably,” said Evans.

Atkinson said succeeding in Canada is critical for Target.

“They don’t have a lot of place to grow in the U.S. and so…if you can’t make it in a country like Canada, that is right next door, and is so similar to you in terms of culture, how the heck are you ever going to go to another country?”

According to the Canadian apparel industry newsletter Trendex North America, many Canadian retailers would be ‘ecstatic’ while the Canadian consumer would be ‘ill-served,’ if Target were to pull up stakes.

“Once a perception about a retailer has been established, it isn’t quickly changed,” according to Trendex North America president Randy Harris.

Trendex estimates that while apparel accounts for 16 per cent of Target stores U.S. sales, it accounts for almost a quarter of its Canadian sales.

“For Target Canada, doubling down on its strength, given Walmart Canada’s less-than-fashionable offering and failure to take bold fashion initiatives, would seem to make a lot of sense.”