The next Target CEO knows the retailer needs to do better. Here's his 3-part plan to get it back on track.

Target has tapped Michael Fiddelke as its new CEO.

Target

• Target said Wednesday that COO Michael Fiddelke will take over as CEO of the retailer in February.
• Fiddelke spent the past quarter leading a new acceleration effort to return the company to growth.
• He laid out a three-part strategy that he said is based on "knowing what makes Target Target."

Michael Fiddelke just got promoted to one of the toughest jobs in retail.

Fiddelke, Target's chief operating officer, is set to take over as the company's CEO when his boss, Brian Cornell, retires in February.

Under Cornell's leadership, the retailer posted declining comparable sales for six of the past nine quarters. According to Placer.ai, foot traffic in its stores fell by more than 3% year over year during the second quarter.

In spite of modest sequential improvement across several key metrics this quarter from the prior one — in which Fiddelke took the helm of a new enterprise acceleration office — the 20-year Bullseye veteran said the company is still falling short.

"I know we're not realizing our full potential right now," Fiddelke said during Target's quarterly earnings call Wednesday, "so I'm stepping into the role with a clear and urgent commitment to build new momentum in the business and get back to profitable growth."

On the call, Fiddelke laid out a three-part strategy to get the company back on track. He said the plan was rooted in his "knowing what makes Target Target."

First and foremost, he wants to get Target reoriented toward the "style and design North Star" to reclaim its merchandising authority.

"We need to go beyond the occasional design partnership, or ensure we're bringing this authority across each category in our business throughout the year," he said.

He highlighted the company's $31 billion private label portfolio as a key way to introduce newness to its shelves. He also highlighted partnerships with national brands, which he's pushing beyond Target's on-trend apparel and beauty offerings into more staid categories like housewares and food.

Fiddelke also said the company needs to get back to the "elevated and joyful" shopping experience that once encouraged shoppers to linger in Target stores, loading up their carts with unplanned purchases. Recent store visits by Business Insider found that experience had become uneven across the country, with some stores having bare shelves or insufficient staffing to deliver the Tarzhay magic.

"We can never take for granted the love our guests show us when they affectionately refer to their local store as 'My Target,'" Fiddelke said. "That's loyalty we need to consistently go out and earn."

Lastly, Fiddelke said that a tighter embrace of technology was critical to helping the company operate more efficiently. He said the company would make significant investments throughout the organization.

He said his work at the acceleration office had already revealed several areas to work on.

"We've identified the biggest challenges that slow us down: legacy technology that doesn't meet today's needs, manual work that can be automated, unclear accountabilities that slow decision-making, siloed goals, and a lack of access to quality data," he said.

Fiddelke said he's not waiting until February to start some of these initiatives. Some are underway already, like a new Fun 101 merchandising concept focused on style and cultural relevance and a more dynamic approach to Target's stores-as-hubs e-commerce fulfillment model being tested in Chicago.

"The only path that works long-term in retail is one that's built on the back of growth, and so that becomes me and my team's sole focus as I step into the job," he said.

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