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MINNEAPOLIS — Like her colleague Christina Hennington, Cara Sylvester brought a highly impressive resumé when she joined Target in 2007. Like Hennington, she had earned an MBA degree from the prestigious Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, and she joined Target from the consulting world, having worked at Deloitte Consulting in Chicago for six years.
Not surprisingly, then, her first position at Target was senior manager of corporate strategy, but in 2009 she transitioned to the merchandising team, starting out as grocery buyer of warm beverages. Three years later she moved up to senior buyer of beauty, skin care, bath and fragrance, and in 2014 was appointed senior buyer of housewares, focusing on storage and organization items.
In 2017 Sylvester moved into the executive ranks when she was promoted to vice president of beauty and dermstore. In that role, she led the launch and evolution of Target’s Beauty Concierge program, a high-touch service model that was the first of its kind among mass retailers. Another promotion, to senior vice president of merchandising for home, followed in 2019. Sylvester was credited with driving significant sales and market share gains in a strategically key category, as well as increasing Target’s digital penetration.
Cara Sylvester
Two years later, Sylvester was named executive vice president and chief marketing and digital officer, which positioned her to play a major role in shaping Target’s omnichannel shopping experience. In May 2022 she was appointed to the new role of chief guest experience officer.
That role was designed to lead to the creation of strategies to further differentiate Target’s guest experience, with a focus on increasing personalization and attracting new shoppers to Target’s stores, website and award-winning app.
Her current position encompasses a broad range of responsibilities, including marketing, media and creative strategy for Target Circle, the retailer’s loyalty program; Roundel, its in-house media company; and e-commerce. In addition, Sylvester leads Target’s enterprise technology systems, data analytics and business intelligence strategy.
Last December Sylvester described Target’s approach to the customer experience in a blog post on the company’s website:
“We use the same ingredients as other retailers to create our guest experience — assortment, stores, digital, marketing — but we blend them in a way no one else can,” she wrote. “We bring you products you’ll only find at Target; ones that are on trend, work with any budget, and are designed to make you smile. We invite discovery and inspiration, whether you’re walking an aisle or scrolling our app. We sweat the details, knowing it’s the small things that make a huge difference. And we also think big, always reimagining and reinventing to give you an experience that makes you say, ‘I love shopping at Target.’ These are the touches that set us apart, deepen relationships and grow our business.”
