Macy’s Department Store Reposition Case Study
By
Tina Parker
In Partial Fulfillment of Course Requirements for
BUS 530A Marketing Management
California Baptist University
Dr. Natalie C. Winter
May 21, 2013
Executive Summary The case study is Macy’s Department Store Repositioning. The key problem is that the traditional department stores sales and profits are declining. There are specialty stores, discount stores, and online stores that offer similar products at a fraction of the cost for the most part. However, in the declining market for the department store industry, Macy’s consolidated stores, established a national department store and continues to make a steady profit. It is usually the time to divest, sale,
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Smart phones are allowing customers to shop with their phones inside stores; credit cards are accepted via phones vs. cash registers. Technology brings online shopping vs. in store shopping. And, advertising is popping up on smart phones as electronic messages as customers shop based on their location. Service is defiantly the key to keep a customer coming into a department store. The product life style of the department store is in the mature or declining phase of its product life style, because of the declining sales. Furthermore, according to estimates, market share has eroded away to 7 per cent, as of 2010, and is far below the desirable rate 15 per cent (Johnson, 2011, p. 3). Also, the brand image is being heavily relied upon and the bottom line is not showing significant increase in the years presented in the journal article. Macy’s is afloat due to a strong management team and the aggressiveness to deal with problems as they arise. For example, continuing to adjust its portfolio of stores, focusing on fashion, and developing private labels in bedding, outerwear, ‘tween’ clothing, increase national advertising and using celebrities. Additionally, Macy’s advertising is combining the national department store image with July 4 and the Annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade, which appeals to the American citizen. Solution
The three marketing strategies for Macy’s to pursue are the harvesting, defender and maintenance strategies. As described
Macy Inc. (M) has a cost structure that can best be viewed using SWOT analysis, which is a way of evaluating the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats to the corporation. Macy’s strengths include customer loyalty, a recognizable store name, use of technology, a substantial supply chain, its comprehensive size, and the locations of its stores. In total, these strengths enable Macy Inc. to provide a unique service that offers a characteristic their competitors do not have: merchandise tailored to the customer by store and climate zone. Macy’s main weakness is its cost structure: costs are high compared to their competitors due to a complete operational transformation that includes localizing merchandise by
Macy's business model, like the other two rivals is focused on achieving sustainable growth. Most of the business strategy is outlined and dominated by the firm's extensive indulgence in Corporate Social Responsibility. Macy's believes in attaining sustainable growth satisfying its customer and providing them value for their money in a socially responsible manner (Child 2002).
Due to the economy downturn period, Macy’s and many other retailers were suffering. Fortunately, Macy’s has chosen the beneficial marketing strategy to fit the objective of business. This paper will analyze the company’s situation from its financial aspect, industry aspect, the competitive part and Macy’s marketing strategies to conclude that Macy’s could have stable profit in the next three to five years.
Unlike Starbucks, Macy’s is not doing very well, as evidenced by the fact they announced last month the impeding closure of 68 stores (Peterson, 2017). The company has been struggling for a few years with the growth of the internet and online businesses such as Amazon making their brick and mortar stores impractical in modern times. While the number of stores may not seem like as much of a problem as it is, as other companies have had to close down more in recent years or go out of business in general, this is a symptom of larger problems in both the company and the industry.
2.) In today’s evolving customers, a majority of customers changed their shopping habits. More shoppers research purchases on line and comparison shop. Macy’s must appeal to the new way of shopping and strive to meet the needs of their customer.
The industry we have chosen is the department store-retail industry. Within this industry, we have chosen the department stores of JCPenney and Macy’s. We find this industry, as well as these two companies, interesting from a strategic perspective. JCPenney has recently undergone a massive strategic restructuring in regards to its pricing, brand offerings, and store layout, pushing it away from the typical department store strategy of discounts and coupons. Its new strategy has become much closer to Wal-Mart’s strategy of every day low prices. Macy’s, on the other hand, has restructured with a push from the economic
This report presents data describing the differences amongst the two department stores, their fundamental visions, and comparative statistics. Macy’s or Dillard’s: Differences amongst these competitors There are several aspects you can analyze from each department store. Major pieces do set each one apart from the other. Brand names carried by Macy’s and Dillard’s from an average shoppers point of view can go completely unnoticed unless price is involved. For trend shoppers brand names can either make or break a retail store. It can easily determine if he or she will walk to Macy’s or Dillard’s because they already know the store does or does not carry that brand. This is consistent with each department throughout both stores and
With our main objective in mind, we have proposed an Integrated Marketing Campaign that is geared towards our target market of young adults. By choosing alternate forms of media that appeal more to our younger target market, we can place Macy’s in these customers’ evoked set. For example, we plan to use media outlets such as social media websites, television, magazines
Department stores are not easy to manage, and take a whole team of individuals to run daily operations smoothly. Dillard’s success at the turn of the century came from balancing finances properly, incorporating a friendly atmosphere, and building its reputation as a welcoming upscale department store. In recent years, however, Dillard’s Inc. has surfaced in headlines for being listed as one of the worst companies in the nation to work for. With stiff competition and acquisition factors, the department store industry is not one to lag behind in and
The intensity of rivalry and the threat of substitutes are strong components for J.C. Penney to consider as they continue to strive for increased revenue and market share. Their two primary competitors are Macy’s and Kohl’s, both of whom have fiercely competitive strategies to be strong retail operations. For instance, while Macy’s offers a multitude of promotional deals and is working hard to choose products based upon demographics and geographic segmentation, Kohl’s is attempting to reduce their inventory levels and improve their marketing strategies in order to become a stronger competitor in the department store segment of the retail industry. In order to compete with their competitors, J.C. Penney aims to focus on their previously successful promotions and home department segmentations by bringing in new reputable designers in order to attract a larger customer base. Due to the fact that the intensity of rivalry and threat of substitutes are both moderately strong in the retail department store industry, J.C. Penney ought to be diligent in their implementation of strategies in order to achieve success in the retail business.
Macy’s Inc. has a very strong network all over in the United States under its two main brand names but the company has very weak geographic presence. All of its business functions are in the United States. Any changes in the economic, political, legal, and social framework of the country will have direct impact on the business operations of Macy’s Inc. and its profitability will suffer many folds.
Macy’s has been around for 100 years, currently operating over 700 stores nationwide, and exploring the idea of expanding globally. A company that has that much experience, assets, and capitals are not likely to be bankrupted. With that being said, the current path and strategy that Macy’s is taking now is slowly killing the company. Their revenue stream has been decreasing to be multiple reasons, controllable and non-controllable. Macy’s should redesign their strategy to reach new markets because their current one is not responding to them as much. As many selections as there are in Macy’s, I think that they should try and carry more at a cheaper rate to encourage the loyal customers for that brand to go to Macy’s. I think the lead time for
The financial data will support the strategy as the ratios and numbers show that Macy’s has resources and capital available for the implementation. Evaluation of external and internal factors positively presenting an opportunity for Macy’s to use designed strategy to and keep competitiveness in the industry. Summarizing Macy’s is a well-established organization with over 150 successful years in business that still has an ability to compete with leaders in the industry if the right
In order to analyze Macy’s competitive characteristics we performed a SWOT Analysis to understand its internal and external environments. One of Macy’s strengths is that they are different from other major retailers because they not only sells popular brands; they also have special events that are considered to add a magical experience to its customers. As stated in their 2014 annual report, some of these events include, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City, Fourth of July Fireworks, flower shows, fashion extravaganzas, celebrity appearances, cooking demonstrations and holiday traditions ranging from the arrival of Santa Claus to tree lightings and animated window displays. One further strength Macy’s posses is the fact that they have continued to improve their MOM initiatives. “MOM is an acronym for My Macy’s localization, Omnichannel, and MAGIC selling” (Loeb, 2013). Initially these initiatives have been introduced in 2009 and they seem to have
The Dollar General is an American wholesale company that was first initiated in Scottsville, Tennessee by Turner and Cal Turner. Its headquarters are located in Goodlettsville, Tennessee. The mission statement of the Dollar General is "Serving Others." This mission statement helps to bring out the innate requests and intentions of the company in the United States of America and other countries in the world. The company has a vision that describes how it manages to cater for four different types of people. These four groups of people include the customers, the community, employees, and shareholders. Within these categories of people, Dollar General aspires to serve others through deliver of price quality and terrific prices for customers, opportunity, and respect for employees, a superior return for shareholders and a better life for the communities.