How Target does email marketing
E-commerce & Retail30 campaigns · www.target.com · RSS
Target is a general merchandise retailer. It sells home decor, school supplies, and bedding.
Target sends about 5 campaigns a week, most often on Sunday around 2pm US Eastern. Its median subject line runs 38 characters, and 33% carry an emoji.
Measured from 30 campaigns sent Jul 12 to Aug 23, 2026. Each figure is set against the typical E-commerce & Retail brand: the median of 24 E-commerce & Retail brands in the archive with at least 12 campaigns.
- Campaigns a week
- 4.9 53% more than typical (3.2)
- Median subject length
- 38chars 19% more than typical (32 chars)
- Median words
- 885 6.1 times typical (146)
- Discount in the subject
- 10% 10 points below typical (20%)
Latest Target emails
All 30 campaignsWhen Target sends
Sunday is the busiest day (up to 40% of sends). 2pm is the most common hour (up to 27% of sends). Across 30 scheduled campaigns; welcome, cart and order emails are left out because they go out when a subscriber acts. Times are US Eastern.
Day of week
Show days as a tableHide the days table
| Day | Campaigns | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Monday | 4 | 13% |
| Tuesday | 0 | 0% |
| Wednesday | 3 | 10% |
| Thursday | 7 | 23% |
| Friday | 3 | 10% |
| Saturday | 1 | 3% |
| Sunday | 12 | 40% |
Hour of day (US Eastern)
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| Hour (US Eastern) | Campaigns | Share |
|---|---|---|
| 12am | 0 | 0% |
| 1am | 2 | 7% |
| 2am | 3 | 10% |
| 3am | 3 | 10% |
| 4am | 0 | 0% |
| 5am | 2 | 7% |
| 6am | 0 | 0% |
| 7am | 0 | 0% |
| 8am | 1 | 3% |
| 9am | 2 | 7% |
| 10am | 0 | 0% |
| 11am | 0 | 0% |
| 12pm | 0 | 0% |
| 1pm | 3 | 10% |
| 2pm | 8 | 27% |
| 3pm | 6 | 20% |
| 4pm | 0 | 0% |
| 5pm | 0 | 0% |
| 6pm | 0 | 0% |
| 7pm | 0 | 0% |
| 8pm | 0 | 0% |
| 9pm | 0 | 0% |
| 10pm | 0 | 0% |
| 11pm | 0 | 0% |
Target subject lines
The median runs 38 characters across 7 words, against 32 for the typical E-commerce & Retail brand. The words Target reaches for most: “new”, “weekly” and “hearth”.
- “Threshold with Studio McGee, styled by you.” 43 chars · Aug 23
- “Your New Weekly Ad is here.” 27 chars · Aug 23
- “Boo-worthy Threshold finds 👻” 28 chars · Aug 20
- “New fall decor is here 🍁” 24 chars · Aug 17
- “Boo-worthy Threshold finds 👻” 28 chars · Aug 16
What Target sends
Mostly Promotions & Sales, at 67% of campaigns.
The stack behind the sends
Target sends with Salesforce Marketing Cloud and publishes a DMARC reject policy.
Sends with
Domain authentication
Mail failing authentication is rejected outright, the strictest setting.
The median Target campaign carries 3 images.
Compare Target with Backcountry and Ridge
See how Backcountry and Ridge send, same industry and measured the same way. Or compare with every E-commerce & Retail brand and the whole archive.
How this is measured
Every figure comes from real Target emails captured in Inbox Archive, not from a survey or a vendor report. Medians and the campaign mix appear once a brand has 12 campaigns archived, and the day and time charts once 12 of them are scheduled sends. “Typical E-commerce & Retail brand” is the median across the 24 E-commerce & Retail brands that clear the same bar, each counted once however much it sends. Campaign types are sorted automatically. Discounts are read from subject lines, and a copyable code counts only when one appears in the email, so offers applied at checkout are missed.