Target Plus Marketplace Management
Premium Marketplace Positioning for
Brands
Target Plus isn't a marketplace you can just sign up for. It's invitation-only, and that gatekeeping is the point — it's how Target keeps the catalog curated and its 50M+ Target Circle members trust the brands they see. For growth-stage brands, the combination of a selective third-party marketplace, 1,900+ physical stores, and Target Roundel retail media is positioning you can't replicate on Amazon.
Anyone can sell on Amazon or Walmart. Target picks its sellers — and that selectivity transfers trust to your brand the moment you're listed. Being on Target Plus means Target decided you were worth the shelf space. Target shoppers act on that signal: they're 23% more likely to try a new brand they find on Target.com than on other retail sites. That's not positioning you buy. It's positioning Target assigns.
Nectar runs Target Plus from application to scaled catalog. We've gone through Target's onboarding enough times to know what they're actually looking for — the merchandising standards, the compliance documentation, the pace of communication that keeps you in good standing with Target's category buyers — not just what the public guidelines say.
Target Plus Services
Target Roundel: Reaching High-Value Customers Across Digital and In-Store
Target Roundel is Target's retail media network, and it's one of the few places you can target shoppers on verified, first-party purchase behavior — not inferred demographics. Because Target Circle tracks both online and in-store purchases, Roundel can target based on actual buying patterns and store visits, not a probabilistic lookalike audience.
What makes Roundel particularly powerful is the ability to reach Target guests both digitally and in physical stores. In-store audio ads, endcap displays, and Cartwheel promotions complement digital search and display advertising, creating cohesive omnichannel campaigns that drive both online and brick-and-mortar sales.
Our Target Roundel specialists develop integrated campaigns that align digital advertising with in-store merchandising opportunities. For brands with existing Target store distribution, we coordinate Target Plus online expansion with retail media support, ensuring consistent messaging and maximum market penetration.
FAQ
Target Plus is invite-only. There is no application form. Invitations come through Target’s category buyer team, typically targeting brands with proven eCommerce momentum, retail-quality packaging, and strategic fit with Target’s existing assortment. Paths to an invitation: introductions through retailer brokers (Crossmark, Acosta), exhibiting at category trade shows where Target buyers attend, achieving meaningful Amazon/DTC traction that puts you on category buyer radar, or partnering with an agency that has existing Target Plus relationships. Cold outreach to Target.com directly rarely works; relationship-driven introductions almost always do.
Target curates its marketplace assortment to maintain brand quality consistent with the Target.com shopper experience. Shoppers expect Target.com to feel like Target, not like Amazon's open marketplace. Walmart took the opposite approach, opening their marketplace broadly to drive SKU breadth and competitive pressure on Amazon. Target's approach means fewer competitors per category (good for sellers who get in), tighter category assortment control, and slower marketplace growth. The trade-off: harder to get on Target Plus, easier to compete once you're there.
Roundel is Target's in-house retail media network. Target's equivalent of Amazon Ads. It runs ads on Target.com, in the Target app, on Target's owned audiences off-Target (display ads on third-party sites targeted at Target shoppers), and via connected TV (Roundel TV). Ad formats include Sponsored Products on Target search results, Display ads, and Precision Plus (programmatic display targeting). You don't need to be on Target Plus to advertise via Roundel. Wholesale Target vendors also use it. For a brand on Target Plus, Roundel is the primary ad lever.
Yes. Target Plus requires a US entity, US tax ID, US-based inventory (your own warehouse or 3PL. Target doesn't offer fulfillment services like FBA or WFS), and US customer support. International brands can sell on Target Plus through a US subsidiary or partner, but they can't sell directly from offshore. Inventory location matters because Target measures shipping speed and uses it as a ranking factor. Brands shipping from coast-distant warehouses see slower delivery and lower visibility.
Yes if you're a Target wholesale vendor (1P). Roundel ads work for both wholesale and Target Plus marketplace sellers. The product gets a Target.com listing either way, and Roundel can promote either. What you can't do: advertise products that aren't sold on Target.com at all. So a brand selling exclusively on Amazon can't run Roundel ads even if they want to target Target shoppers. The ad eligibility follows the product's Target.com presence, not the seller's relationship with Target.
