The discount powerhouse is going full throttle on the fragrance category, which has been lethargic and overlooked in big box stores over the past decade. The fragrance assortment expands beyond the standard mass market fare to include exclusives, clean formulas, and customizable collections.An added boost is the proximity to premium scents, including Billie Eilish and Ariana Grande in the Target doors, with Ulta Beauty inside. Target, by a store count on its website, is well on its way to operating 800 of the hybrid beauty departments within the next year.Mass merchants have eyed with envy the results posted in prestige fragrances over the past two years. Luxury fragrances represent 60% of the full category volume of $12.7 billion, according to Circana (formerly NPD and IRI). The combined channels pumped out sales gains of 11% in 2022.Digging deeper into the gains, sales in drug, food, discount, and dollar stores only advanced a little over 1% in 2022. Shoppers showed they were willing to dig deeper into their pockets for products they felt were a treat and worth the extra spend.There is a whiff of change to date in 2023, proving Target could be onto something. First quarter results released by Circana showed prestige fragrances jumping and mass escalating 13%. While some of the mass growth is attributed to rising prices rather than unit movement, the upward trend is a welcome sign.Target is embracing the category with a bevy of launches that address some of the reasons mass merchants have lagged behind department and specialty competitors. The roadblocks include a dearth of launches, locked cases, and a lack of sampling.