Target partners with Honeyfund to add cash gifts to its wedding registry

Chalk one up to the power of media exposure. The team responsible for building Target’s online registry saw Honeyfund appear on “Shark Tank,” and thought it would be cool to integrate the honeymoon registry service into Target’s own. Today, that integration has gone live across Target’s website, mobile web and in the dedicated Target registry app.

The retailer tells TechCrunch that the decision to partner with Honeyfund has to do with it being an established name in the gift registry business, and its popularity with today’s consumers.

Founded back in 2006, the online registry lets friends and family give the marrying couple cash-based gifts – like funds for travel, for honeymoon-related outings and activities, for a down payment on a house, or anything else they like.

With the Target partnership and newly launched Honeyfund integration, couples can now register for everything they want – including both physical gifts and cash gifts – from a single destination. In theory, this could help Target retain customers who may have otherwise opted to go non-traditional – but increasingly more popular – cash gift route alone. It could also present a challenge to rival gift registry services from startups, like Zola.

Target says its deal with Honeyfund is only a partnership – no money is exchanging hands, nor does this constitute a financial investment on the retailer’s part. However, it’s not the first time that Target has leveraged third-party technology to enhance its consumer-facing products. For example, the company last fall added Pinterest’s visual search tool to its website and mobile app.

That visual search feature today can recommend products to add to a registry based on a photo snapped from a smartphone. This works across registries, including baby, anniversary, wedding and others.

The Honeyfund integration, on the other hand, is only available within the Target wedding registry itself.

“Wedding registry expectations have changed over time,” said Dawn Block, Target senior vice president of digital, in a statement about the new partnership. “Guests are looking for a complete registry experience, including product and honeymoon options, and Target is the first retailer to be able to offer all of this in one place on Target.com.”