Dive Brief:

• Target’s CIO Mike McNamara said he plans to bolster technologies that augment customers' store experiences and a variety of other digital efforts, according to a company blog.
• McNamara said he will focus on improving the online experiences at Target.com as well as backend systems like order pickup that make the behind-the-scenes operations run smoothly and efficiently.
• McNamara said he’s also focused on hiring tech in-house and continuing to reduce the retailer’s dependence on offshore talent.

Dive Insight:

"Technology and supply chain are the new battlegrounds for retail," McNamara wrote. "The retailers with the strongest technology and supply chain will have the best chance of winning."

Last October, Target announced it was rebuilding its internal IT capabilities and moving away from outsourcing. Before McNamara, about 70% of the company’s engineering staff was third-party contractors vs. 30% Target team members. In just a year’s time, the company reversed that ratio.

“We had far more contractors than we needed—especially once we pared back our roster of projects to focus on key priorities,” McNamara wrote. “Going forward I’d like to see that ratio get up to 80:20. I firmly believe that to win in retail today and into the future you’ve got to own and build your own technology.”

Target has hired approximately 700 engineers since McNamara joined the company in 2015. The company has also been working to speed up development and deployment cycles and improve cooperation across teams.