• by Sarah Mahoney , October 2, 2007

Target is introducing a new twist on online shopping and wish lists, adding in-store kiosks with scanners to the process. The Minneapolis-based retailer says its TargetLists program will make it easier for shoppers to share what they want with friends and families, who can print out lists at any Target store.

While the concept is an old one, and shoppers have long been able to get such details from baby and bridal registries, Target's new trick allows shoppers to carry an object of their desire to a kiosk, scan it and add it to their lists.

In addition to the standard list-creation online features used by many retailers, "guests can add specific information about an item in the comments section, offer general details to gift givers about the items such as favorite colors or themes in the message section and add notes such as whether or not items are available exclusively online or in-store," the company says in its announcement.

Guests can also choose from pre-selected list categories such as birthday, graduation, new home and holidays, in addition to accessing Club Wedd and Target Baby registries via the TargetLists Web page and in-store kiosks.

Although Target's announcement comes in the midst of its big push on Halloween costumes, there's no doubt it's an early attempt to woo holiday list-makers. And it's just another signal that mass-merchandisers are well aware that they'll have to add a few new pages to the fourth-quarter playbook if they want to do well.

The National Retail Federation recently predicted that in the upcoming holiday season, sales will gain just 4% to $474.5 billion, below the ten-year average of 4.8%. If that's accurate, it would be the slowest holiday sales growth since 2002, when sales gained a measly 1.3%.