Might be surprising question, but do we need to use it?
I exported some shapes with the export targets tool, and the blendshapeandslider function was still working.
That’s an interesting thought.
For many targets theoretically you don’t need it. But there are some targets where you need it, like the jawOpen, because it handles the joint pose also.
Also - if you just export the targets and not use the shape editor, it’s harder to manage them. Especially if there’s a model change, things would be much easier with the shape editor than with lots of extra target files.