Dive Brief:

• As expected, Target has integrated its popular Cartwheel savings app into its flagship mobile app, Andrew Weisbecker, Target’s senior director of apps and digital strategy, announced on the retailer’s blog Monday.

• Cartwheel users are urged to download the Target app if they haven’t already. They’ll be prompted to log into their Target.com account, which allows access to Cartwheel, he said. Those using Cartwheel with a Facebook or Google login will have to sign into their Target account, or set one up if they don’t have one.

• Cartwheel users have saved more than $1 billion on their in-store purchases, according to the post. On deck are more changes, Weisbecker said, including mobile payment for REDcard users, who already enjoy 5% off all purchases and free shipping on online orders.

Dive Insight:

Target has been steadily testing and/or adding features to Cartwheel, including third-party coupons and loyalty points, and the app has been well received by customers and analysts since its debut in 2013. RSR Research analyst Nikki Baird last year highlighted Cartwheel as an example of a retailer finally figuring out how to provide the level of personalization and glean the kind of data that have been limited to digital sales.

Earlier this year, Target unveiled a series of initiatives designed to reverse the big box retailer’s same-store sales declines, including an investment of more than $2 billion of capital in 2017, and more than $7 billion over the next three years. The company will use about $1 billion of operating profits this year to improve brick-and-mortar and digital operations, according to a conference call transcript from Thomson Reuters StreetEvents.

Target is also making moves to boost the REDcard loyalty program. Those users enjoy 5% off their purchases in stores or online and get free shipping with no minimum. Target also said that it's planning a pilot program for REDcard users this summer in Minneapolis that includes personalized shopping and next-day delivery of frequently-repurchased convenience items.

The retailer is gaining some traction with merchandising changes and improvements to stores, and earlier this month reported a second-quarter sales rise of 1.6% to $16.4 billion from $16.2 billion last year, reflecting 1.3% same-store sales growth combined with the benefit from sales in non-mature stores. Second quarter adjusted earnings from continuing operations rose 0.1% to $1.23 per diluted share. E-commerce sales grew 32% and contributed 1.1 percentage points to the same-store sales increase.