Target Partners With DailyCandy

As more retailers move from brick-and-mortar to digital storefronts, retailers are looking for better ways to gain credibility with the digital audience.

During the past few years, Target has been on a mission to set itself apart from other mass retailers by bringing in internationally renowned designers such as Isaac Mizrahi, Mossimo, and more recently Alexander McQueen and Liz Lange.

Now the big-box retailer has partnered with dailycandy.com, an online insider’s guide to what’s new and cool in fashion, lifestyle, and culture. The venture, labeled the “Red Hot Shop,” lives on target.com and features fashion picks from DailyCandy editors among some of Target’s more hip designer lines. The Red Hot Shop section of the Web site features the same artfully informal product writeups that you would see on DailyCandy.

This appears to be a smart move by Target, whose brand belief is “Design for less”. DailyCandy has just what they need to widen their consumer base and strengthen their fashion-forward equity.

But this doesn’t appear to be a one-way relationship; DailyCandy should benefit greatly from a partnership with the retail giant, who,according to Nielsen Netviews,had 21MM visitors last month alone.

What other traditional brick-and-mortar retailers will initiate joint ventures with online trendsetters in hopes of borrowing their equity and gaining credibility with online consumers?