Target is one of the largest retailers in the U.S. and one of the most popular places to register for weddings. Thousands of couples choose Target for the registry every year and with good reason. The company’s registry service is well designed, offers several industry-leading benefits, and seems to keep improving. Compared to a company like Amazon, it’s clear Target wants to be in the wedding registry business and cares about improving its service offering.
As a company, Target is unique among U.S. retailers. It’s nearly 2,000 brick-and-mortar stores are unmatched among its closest registry competitors. Its product collaborations, unique family of Target-exclusive brands, and in-style, in-season products offerings are legendary. Combine with this the fact that nearly all your wedding guests will likely already be Target customers themselves (the company has stores in every U.S. state, after all), and Target’s registry offering is a highly formidable, great option for many couples.
Here’s a rundown of Target’s wedding registry offering:
Registry Type
Retailer (the sixth or seventh largest in the U.S.)
Free or Paid
Free
Brick and Mortar Options
Nearly 2,000 stores in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. According to the company, there’s a Target store within 10 miles of most households in the U.S.
Sign-up Incentives or Freebies
Occasional incentives, but usually none. Target does offer a wedding registry welcome kit that couples can pick up in store if you can find a store that has one available. We’ve tried and failed to get one at two different locations but will update this post if we’re successful.
Completion Benefits
Target offers a generous 15% off completion discount that can be used twice for in-store or online purchases. Registries must be active for at least 14 days before a discount code is generated and codes are distributed the week of your wedding date. Discount codes expire around six months after they are delivered to a couple’s account but check for your individual expiration date as they can vary. Couples with a Target RedCard can save an additional 5% on top of their 15% completion discount.
Target’s completion discount is one of the least restrictive around and applies to virtually every product the company sells in-person and online. We especially love that couples can use the discount twice. This is an uncommon perk. We love the idea of using it once right after your wedding for items you need immediately and once closer to the six-month expiration date when you’ve settled in, had some time to set up your home together, and know a lot more about what additional items you need most.
Creation Features
Target offers several very useful registry creation features that we have found work quite well.
First, Target offers a nice suite of product recommendations, sorted by categories. These fun and creative categories are unique and useful, including for home chefs, for baking gurus, for hosts with the most, for task tacklers, for tech and entertainment lovers, etc. Products within each category can be added to your registry with one click.
The company also includes an easy to navigate collection of more traditional categories like kitchen, bath, and bedding.
For additional inspiration, Target offers quite a few curated lists across different categories. Product recommendations are organized in a fun-to-browse, look book style list that we found pleasing.
After products are added to your registry, Target includes an easy way to manage individual products. From your list of selected products, clicking “edit item” brings up a quick menu that allows couples to adjust the quantity requested, the number of purchased items (if you know an item was purchased elsewhere), add notes about the product for friends and family, and mark products as “most wanted.”
Target also includes a very helpful product checklist with easy-to-navigate category dropdowns, completion indicators, and links to individual product categories. As you add products within various categories, your checklist and registry completion percentage automatically update.
Finally, Target has one of the best mobile apps for managing a wedding registry. To be honest, we have found that managing a registry from their mobile app is easier than managing it from their website. Menus and dropdowns are intuitive, and you can even use the app as a product scanner in store.
User Experience
The overall user experience of Target’s registry tool is excellent. Menus, dashboards, and list management tools are all visually attractive, easy to navigate, and logical. When you navigate to a product from a registry checklist or product, Target’s big, iconic, red “add to cart” button is replaced with a red “add to registry” button. When you navigate to products via other paths on the website a simple “add to registry” button appears just below the “add to cart” button. A quick “view my registry” button appears on every product page once your registry is created.
When couples first access their registry after logging into, they land on their registry dashboard. The dashboard is not super helpful, but it does what it needs to do. Couples can add a photo of themselves, a welcome note to family and friends, and quickly see a countdown to their big day.
One additional user experience feature we appreciate is the “view as family & friends” button that lets couples quickly view how their guests will see their registry. We love this feature and have found ourselves logging out of registries with other retailers to try and accomplish the same task.
The only significant user experience issue we think could be improved is on couples’ “My Registry” page that lists all their product selections. The page displays products as tiles under easy-to-miss category headers and there is no ability to change the overall view. We prefer to see products displayed in lists that can quickly be sorted or filtered. The product tiles Target uses feel far too form over function for our taste and are somewhat difficult to read.
Personal Consultation
We had high hopes for Target’s ability to offer personal registry consultation, but were ultimately disappointed. On the bottom of most registry pages, they invite users to “call our experts.” We called the number and found that no such “experts” exist. The person on the line, after identifying themselves as a “registry support” person, seemed to be confused about basically every registry question I could think to ask. At best, this person can help with troubleshooting registry settings, but they were certainly not an expert and could offer no personal consultation.
As you can see below, we got just a bit further with the person we were connected to by chat. This person was able to recommend a product, but ended the chat when we asked them to compare two different products.
Shopping Features
Target offers fast, free shipping on all orders of $35 or more, but without a doubt, their best shopping feature is their massive network of brick-and-mortar stores. It’s to find someone that does not shop at Target at least on occasion. And so for guests who appreciate being able to shop a registry in person, Target is great option. We still frequently use Target’s curbside pickup service and have found, even beyond Covid, that it’s one of the best and easiest to use.
Shipping Customization
None
After-Wedding Features
Target offers a basic gift tracking tool that couples can use to track their gifts. One nice feature is that it sorts gifts shipped directly to a couple versus those their guests have shipped to themselves or purchased in store. This is helpful so that couples know which products to be on the lookout for in the mail. The gift tracker lists what exactly was purchased, by whom, and the gift giver’s address (unless they opt out of sharing it). The gift tracker also offers couples a link to all paper thank you cards sold by Target.
Return Policy
Target offers a generous return policy for most wedding registry gifts. Most new, unopened gifts can be returned for up to a year from your wedding date in exchange for a gift card. If for some reason an item hasn’t been marked as purchased on your registry, you will receive a merchandise return card instead of a traditional gift card. The only difference is that merchandise return cards can only be in used in store. It is important to note that items you purchase from your own registry are ineligible for the one-year extended return window and are instead subject to Target’s regular return window of 90 days for most items.
Other Potential Benefits or Drawbacks
Target offers many exclusive in-house brands and product collaborations, offering couples lots of unique, on-trend, affordable products that rival many comparable, higher-end offerings at other retailers. Our favorite long-running Target collaboration is Hearth & Hand with Magnolia. We love Chip and Joanna Gaines and really enjoy their affordable, seasonal home décor offerings available exclusively at Target. We especially love Hearth & Hand’s holiday decorations and look forward to their release every year.
The biggest drawback to registering at Target is that their inventory and general product availability changes very quickly and often. Effectively managing a Target registry and avoiding having your guests face many out-of-stock items will take some effort and due diligence. This is a tradeoff couples must accept in exchange for the company’s highly seasonal, highly sought after product offerings. We recommend couples check in on their Target registries every couple weeks to look for out-of-stock products that needs to be replaced. If you cannot support this level of maintenance, then we highly recommend at a minimum checking-in on your Target registry a few weeks before any pre-wedding events and at least a month or six weeks before your actual wedding day.
Finally, it’s important to keep in mind what Target is and is not. Target’s product offerings fall comfortably in the low-to-mid range in terms of both price and quality. Couples after higher-end products (and especially timeless products that will last decades) may want to look elsewhere. On the other hand, couples that want a value registry option for their guests who want to spend less might want to add Target to their registry mix as an alternative to higher-end retailers like Crate & Barrel or Williams Sonoma.
Final Thoughts
Target stands out as a top choice for couples seeking a reliable, convenient, and versatile wedding registry service. With its extensive network of brick-and-mortar stores spanning every U.S. state and its intuitive and feature-rich online registry platform, Target offers couples the ability to curate their ideal registry with ease.
Target’s generous 15% completion discount, coupled with the convenience of being able to use it twice, makes the service even more appealing. Whether you’re in need of must-have essentials or browsing for unique, on-trend items, Target’s diverse product offerings cater to every couple’s taste and style.
While there may be some room for improvement in areas like personal consultation and product availability, Target’s commitment to enhancing its registry service is evident. With its seamless user experience, fast shipping options, and hassle-free return policy, Target continues to set a standard for wedding registry services. Ultimately, for couples seeking a blend of affordability, accessibility, and product selection, Target is a standout choice and will ensure an outstanding registry experience from start to finish.
