Target Rolls Out AI Photo Search and Review Tools as App Engagement Surges

Quick Facts

Target launched AI photo search in August 2026 and AI-powered review summaries in June 2026, both built into its app.
AI-driven traffic to Target jumped 2,000% in Q1 2026, compared to roughly 400% growth across retail sites overall.
Target app users shopping in-store carry basket sizes nearly 50% higher than those who do not use the app.

Target has rolled out a series of AI-powered shopping tools across its app, with photo search and review summaries as the headline features. The retailer announced the updates in a September 8, 2026 press release, marking one of its most coordinated digital product pushes in recent memory.

Photo search, launched in August, lets shoppers upload or take a photo to find similar products on Target.com. A lamp spotted at a friend’s house or a throw pillow seen on social media can now become a starting point for product discovery inside the app.

Review Insights, which launched in June, uses AI to group customer feedback into themes. A shopper researching a cordless vacuum can quickly scan what reviewers say about suction power, weight, and ease of use without reading dozens of individual posts. Target says early data shows the feature is improving add-to-cart rates and reducing decision fatigue.

Two other features round out the rollout. Buy Again surfaces frequently purchased items and past orders to simplify reordering everyday staples. Continue Shopping, live since fall 2025, reconnects users with recently viewed products and surfaces relevant alternatives across the homepage, My Target, and search.

The features arrive as Target’s digital traffic data turns sharply upward. AI-driven visits to the retailer grew 2,000% in the first quarter of 2026 compared to a year earlier. That outpaced the roughly 400% AI traffic growth seen across retail sites broadly during the same period.

Sarah Travis, Target’s executive vice president and chief digital and revenue officer, said the company is focused on reducing friction while highlighting its product assortment. “These enhancements reduce friction while also showcasing the style, design and differentiated assortment that make Target special,” she said.

Target is also expanding its AI presence beyond its own platforms. The company says it is the first mass retailer with shopping experiences available across Google Search, Microsoft Copilot, and OpenAI’s ChatGPT. Chief Information and Product Officer Prat Vemana said the goal is to appear wherever shoppers ask questions, whether on ChatGPT, Perplexity, or Gemini.

The digital push fits inside a broader turnaround under CEO Michael Fiddelke. Target posted first-quarter net sales of $25.4 billion, up 6.7% year over year, and raised its full-year sales growth target to around 4%. The company plans to spend roughly $5 billion in capital investment in 2026, covering new stores, supply chain improvements, and technology.

To lead its AI work, Target named Chandhu Nair as its first-ever chief AI officer. Nair joins from Lowe’s, where he led stores, data, AI, and innovation. His role is to consolidate Target’s AI efforts into a single plan, with focus on inventory efficiency, employee tools, and executive decision-making. He reports to Vemana.

Target’s stock has climbed more than 55% in 2026 as of mid-August, reflecting improved investor confidence in the turnaround. The new AI features are central to that story, but the retailer will need sustained conversion and sales data to prove the tools are moving the needle at scale.