Target private label baby brand expands into essentials

Dive Brief:

Target's private label brand baby brand Cloud Island, which launched in 2017, is expanding into essentials like diapers, wipes, toiletries and feeding products, the company announced in a blog post on its website Thursday.
The expansion, which will roll out to stores and Target.com on Jan. 20, includes 30 items ranging from $0.99 to $21.99, with most items priced under $10, the company said.
Target said it worked with hundreds of parents to design the assortment over the course of more than two years. The products are benchmarked against premium brands based on the ingredients and are 30% to 40% less expensive, Target chemist Robin Beck, who worked on the expansion, said in the blog post.

Dive Insight:

Over the last 18 months, Target has doubled down on expanding its private label assortment, adding 20 new brands in that time, including eight last year, in the home decor, apparel and personal care categories. Now, the mass merchant is taking steps to freshen up some of the oldest brands in that cohort.

“With all of Target’s new brands, we think about ways to expand upon the original idea,” Mark Tritton, Target executive vice president and chief merchandising officer, said in the blog post. “As we talked about Cloud Island, the essentials category was always there. The idea was around better-for-you, dependable, affordable and accessible products that are good for your baby and your family. Now, building on the success we’ve seen with the brand over the past year, we’re bringing that idea to life.”

That's a playbook being followed with other products, too. Earlier this month, Target tapped interior designer and HGTV star Leanne Ford to light up its home goods brand Project 62 with a limited-edition line of lighting options. Project 62, like Cloud Island, first rolled out in 2017.

Cloud Island's expansion also builds on Target's pledge in 2017 for greater transparency across its product manufacturing and supply chain. The new toiletries offered are made without phthalates and parabens, and feeding products are phthalate-free and made without BPA and PVC.

Those details are important as more consumers search for affordable clean beauty and clean personal care items. Baby, in particular, is an important category for Target, which is aiming to court young millennial families through efforts like new private label lines and the build-out of small-format stores in urban and suburban areas.