Target will test grocery delivery

Aug 12, 2015, 7:33am CDT Updated Aug 12, 2015, 8:34am CDT

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PATRICK T. FALLON

Fresh bananas and other produce for sale in the grocery section inside a California… more

Target Corp. plans to begin testing a grocery-delivery service soon as retail rivals stake out space in bringing food to customers' doorsteps.

The Minneapolis-based retailer isn't offering many details about the effort, though the Star Tribune quotes Chief Marketing Officer Jeff Jones as saying a trial of the service will be offered "In the very near future."

Jones made his comments during Target's annual vendors summit, during which CEO Brian Cornell talked about the need for support from suppliers to help Target's reinvention efforts. That's a talk Target (NYSE: TGT), which has putmore emphasis on less-traditional grocery products, has been having with vendors for months now.

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It's not certain where Target would test a delivery service. Several Twin Cities grocery stores already offer online ordering and delivery, including Kowalski's, Lunds & Byerlys, and CobornDelivers, a St. Cloud grocer.

Meanwhile, Amazon and Wal-Mart are also experimenting with food delivery in markets such as California and New York, and is partnering with Excelsior, Minn.-based Oppidan about building a drive-up grocery concept.

Target last year began testing a curbside pickup service with a San Francisco startup.