Yes, the problem is that Target has invented these "one trick pony" metrics to try and capture a reflection of something important. Electronics profitability is important to talk about, but AAR does not reflect that. Our purpose in Electronics is to get the guest to purchase a main item, and then we want them to ALWAYS come back to us for their accessories for that product.
IMO there should be two programs here. The first is a section of the Target App dedicated to Electronic Items. On your Target.com Account (in the App) you should be able to register purchases for most major main items. If you have a particular system and receipt as "purchased" you can then use that App to get a discount (5%) on all accessories for it. For example, a guest comes in to buy a PS4. We help them out and get them registered on the Target App by getting into this section, scanning the PS4 and scanning the barcode on the receipt with their phone. Now going forward they just go into their "Electronics Rewards" portion of their app and there is a barcode that allows for 5% off all PS4 accessories. Instant loyalty to Target over gamestop, walmart, etc... The point is that selling ONE video game with the ps4 is 100% AAR, but is that guest in particular profitable to Target yet? They will be profitable to Sony over the long run (because they will buy dozens of games over the next few years), but we have no guarantee they are going to keep coming back to us for those games. We need to secure that!
Secondly, we need to just measure Electronics profitability. AAR is stupid. Tell us how profitable we are and if it is a + or - comp over ly. Allow us to use the program above to drive long-term loyalty with guests when it comes to the profitable items in electronics (software and accessories) and to make a big impact on this number. Finally, allow them to manage SRPs through this app as well so they don't have to retain these paper pamphlets. Imagine guests who are most loyal to Target and who use this to get their electronic items. They can have everything in their house "saved" to this app, and pull it up as soon as something goes wrong and with a few swipes send a box to ship it back and to receive a new one. This goes for so many things, and the app will automatically price it for the guest so no mix ups
Finally, this could be a great marketing tool to help out entertainment. We know it is an issue and we need to give guests a reason to purchase hard copies of things if we want there to be any sales over there at all. If a guest has registered any device that can play dvds, cds, or blurays we could even give them bigger discounts on those. Perhaps all New Release movies are an additional 20% off if you have a device registered, or something similar... Lets get creative for once
