Dive Brief:

• Target Corp.’s New York City holiday spectacle this year, dubbed “Wonderland,” is a 16,000-square foot showcase for tech toys and other popular gifts near Chelsea Pier.

• The space is full of interactive games and playthings, like a giant Etch A Sketch, a life-size replica of the retailer’s Lego pirate ship, the BB-8 robot from Star Wars, and miniature cars controlled via a smartphone app on a peppermint racetrack.

• But Target’s Wonderland is also an over-the-top test space to try out and demonstrate various ways to pump up and improve the customer experience. Customers can wear an RFID tag that allows them to scan an item code and buy as they move around the space, and Santa’s arm pops through to hand them their packages at the space’s fireplace.

Dive Insight:

Many retailers, especially in New York City, go over the top when it comes to holiday window displays, employing talented artists and sometimes even live performers to catch shoppers’ attention. 

But it’s especially savvy to take that no-holds-barred approach to a temporary retail space designed as both a spectacle to be enjoyed and a test space to collect information about what digital (or analog) approaches appeal to today’s more urban, mobile-carrying, tech-savvy customers.

“The idea is to make the shopping experience feel weightless and less encumbered and to make the transaction more seamless and effortless,” Amy Koo, an analyst with Kantar Retail, told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. “But the most significant part of [Wonderland] is to bring this interactive and physical experience to a segment of the population that Target very much cares about.”