MINNEAPOLIS, MN - New rumors have sparked that Amazon may be looking to Target as its next big physical retail acquisition after a popular analyst predicted the potential match. Gene Munster of Loup Ventures wrote in a post earlier this week that the move may come as soon as before the year is out.

"Amazon will acquire Target," Munster wrote on the Loup website in a post detailing his predictions for 2018. "Amazon believes the future of retail is a mix of mostly online and some offline. Target is the ideal offline partner for Amazon for two reasons, shared demographic and manageable but comprehensive store count.”

Munster also noted that as far as the demographics at play, the acquisition makes sense. Target has been focused on moms, he said, a demographic which is also central to Amazon’s approach to expanding its market share. Amazon has spent campaign dollars targeting the demographic through promotions around Prime along with loading Prime Video with kid-friendly content over the past several years. 

As far-fetched as this might seem, Munster has plenty of clout in the financial and analyst industries. According to CNBC, he spent 21 years as an influential technology analyst with Piper Jaffray, then co-founded his venture capital firm Loup at the beginning of 2017.

“As for retail stores, Amazon’s acquisition of Whole Foods 470 stores along with testing of the Amazon Go retail concept is evidence that Amazon sees the future of retail as a combination of mostly online and some offline. Despite gaining Whole Foods, Amazon’s ~470 store presence still dwarf’s Walmart at 11,695 (global). If Amazon acquires Target’s that would jump its store count to about 2,300.”

CNBC also reported that Target shares rose 3.7 percent Tuesday following the post’s debut. As of the time of writing, Amazon and Target have yet to comment on the speculation. AndNowUKnow will be ready to report the latest as this story continues to develop.

Loup Ventures