Target started a major holiday season push on Monday with its new interactive Holiday Kids Catalog, presenting toys in colorful, interactive contexts. The retailer positioned the release as a discovery tool including video content, wish lists and a feature that converts handwritten wish lists into digital shopping lists.

The catalog is available on Target.com and in the retailer’s app. It features nearly 500 toys, games and gifts. However, it is distinct from Target’s separate, curated toy list.

Target is No. 5 in Digital Commerce 360’s Top 1000 Database, which ranks North America’s largest online retailers by annual ecommerce sales.

Target is also No. 54 in Digital Commerce 360’s AI Commerce Rankings. That set of rankings is available in the Top 1000 Pro with AI Database.

What’s new in Target’s toy catalog experience

The catalog is designed to function like a shoppable content platform rather than a product grid, according to Target. Shoppers can watch toy demonstrations and video reviews and add items directly to a cart or save them to a wish list. Wish lists can be shared with family members and gift-givers.

In addition, Target implemented a list scanner feature, which allows shoppers who receive or create a handwritten wish list from the printed catalog to scan it in the Target app and convert it into a digital list. Each page of the physical catalog also carries a unique QR code that links directly to the corresponding page in the digital version.

“This year’s digital experience helps families discover toys together, create and share wish lists and find gifts they’ll be excited about all season long,” said Cassandra Jones, senior vice president, Fun101, Target.

Target’s competition with Amazon

Amazon launched its own Holiday Kids Gift Book on the same day as Target’s announcement on Oct. 5.  Now in its ninth year, Amazon’s version features more than 600 toys and gifts, an original illustrated story and family activity pages. 

While Target’s experience is app-native and built around social sharing and creator content, Amazon’s selling point is Alexa integration. Families can unlock a choose-your-own-adventure audio experience through a partnership with Readyland, with kids interacting with the book’s Forest Friends characters via any Alexa-enabled device.

Amazon’s book also comes with its own curated list of top toys chosen by an in-house team of toy experts alongside AI shopping tools. Alexa for Shopping lets parents make requests like “holiday gifts for my 10-year-old daughter” and receive personalized recommendations based on follow-up questions about interests and hobbies. Amazon Lens allows shoppers to scan a product spotted in person or on social media and find it immediately on Amazon.

Amazon ranks No. 1 in the Top 1000 database.

The state of ecommerce at Target

Target’s online sales grew 8.7% year over year in its fiscal Q2 2026, outpacing total comparable sales growth of 3.8%. Same-day delivery drove more than 25% growth in the quarter, and Target fulfilled about 30% more same- and next-day units year over year.

Total net sales in Q2 increased 5.3% to $26.7 billion, though the quarter’s results were boosted by nearly $1 billion in tariff refunds that Target recorded as a reduction to cost of sales. 

The company’s Fun101 category, which covers toys, sporting goods and entertainment, reported double-digit comparable sales growth in Q2, making it the strongest-performing category of the quarter.

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