Target joins Walmart, Home Depot in reporting record-setting sales amid pandemic

Target announced surging sales in its second quarter earnings report on Wednesday, joining several other major retailers that have seen success as COVID-19 forces many Americans to remain at home.

A post on Target’s corporate blog indicated that sales on its website and other digital platforms were up nearly 200 percent, while in-store sales also surged almost 11 percent.

The company’s total growth in sales over the same period last year, 24.3 percent, was a company record, according to the earnings report. It also touted Target’s efforts to operate under modified circumstances due to concerns about coronavirus, noting that more than 90 percent of the company’s growth in the second quarter was from in-store sales.

The report also noted large jumps in the use of Target’s in-store pickup service as well as delivery through its Shipt delivery service, where orders grew 350 percent in the second quarter.

Other large retailers including Walmart and Home Depot have reported similar jumps in sales as the pandemic has continued to affect the U.S. economy, shuttering many businesses and forcing workers to stay home.

Walmart reported on Tuesday that it had seen total sales increase by nearly 10 percent over the second quarter of 2019, while digital sales grew 97 percent.

Home improvement giant Home Depot’s sales increased 23.4 percent over last year, including a 25 percent surge in the U.S., according to the company’s earnings report, also released Tuesday.