Leading US discount department store Target has announced that it is set to discontinue its pilot programme that it has been running with delivery company Curbside, according to US media sources.

Target had been trialling the Curbside service in a number of US cities. Online shoppers were able to place their orders and then Curbside expert shoppers would source the goods from the Target store in question, before bringing the package to the customer who would wait for this in their car.

Target will be closing the service on the 15th June. Sources say that the company wishes to focus on its core digital offerings, while ramping up its own in house click and collect service. Target’s own click and collect service still enables customers to order their goods online for in store pick up, but where the Curbside system allowed them to wait in their cars, Target shoppers must now go into the store to collect the items that they have purchased.

E-commerce is rapidly evolving and businesses will test new ideas for feasibility to get that edge on competitors. The Curbside system has failed where other offerings such as delivering to local shops through Doddle and Collect+ in the UK seem to be gaining ground. Though having an online presence is deemed to be essential in Western retailing now, the bells and whistles have yet to bed in and there is no firmly established method of offering delivery to completely meet the needs of the e-tailers’ customers. Some ideas will win where others will fail while such concepts are tested.