Target stores will begin selling Apple's iPad

Target says it will carry six models of the Apple iPad, starting Oct. 3, and will develop an iPad application for customers who want to shop the retailer online using the device.

Target says the application will be available for download in November. The retailer says the application will take advantage of the iPad's display strengths.

Target says the iPad app is part of its efforts to help customers shop Target however they want. Last month, Target released its first application for Android smart phones.

The Minneapolis-based retailing giant says it's responding to a surging number of shoppers who view smart phones as virtual shopping assistants that they want to use anywhere at anytime.

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Last year, shoppers visited target.com nearly 1 billion times. The company says that many of its online shoppers use the Web to research purchases they'll make in Target stores.

For every dollar they spend online, they spend $4 in Target stores.

In mid-October, the compnay will begin offering 5 percent off nearly all purchases made in-store and online. The catch is shoppers must use a Target-branded credit or debit card.

Target expects the program will boost sales by one to two percent next year, totalling as much as $1.3 billion.

A test in Kansas City showed the rewards program got Target's most frequent shoppers to shop even more. Those shoppers tend to pay credit card balances in full, avoiding interest charges, but Target says the reward program will still be a money-maker for it, due to increased sales.

Target says 10 percent of its shoppers account for nearly half of its sales.