INTRODUCTION
In this segment, the retailer J.C. Penney will be analyzed against the department store retail industry, with particular emphasis placed upon their competitors, Macy’s and Kohl’s. The major components to be discussed will include the general external environment (i.e. demographics, economics, politics, legal requirements, technologies and global expansion), the industry environment, the competitive environment, the driving forces and the key factors for success within the industry. In terms of the general external environment, the retail industry is a multi-trillion dollar business in the United States alone and maintains operations primarily due to consumer spending. Such purchases rely upon the disposable income of
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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.
GENERAL ENVIRONMENT
Demographic Segment
The retail industry is a sector of the economy that is comprised of individuals and companies
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.
J.C. Penney is a retail outlet that operates in many locations globally. It deals with product lines such as clothing, footwear, beauty products, electronics, and jewelry. There are several changes that have taken place in the macro environment that promises to increase the fortunes of the company. The advertisement in technology is one single important factor that has increased the performance of the business (Ali, 2007). The company has an elaborate website through which it uses to tap the online market. In fact, thirty percent of the company’s revenue comes from the website.
2) JC Penney's most immediate goal is to maintain its present customer base and to attract new clients. They can do so by introducing higher-scale brands to their stores in order to attract another category of customers, in other words, customers who are drawn to premium brands. Therefore, JC Penney's brand image will be enhanced; its reputation will be improved. Introducing premium products, and attracting customers who have higher purchasing power will bring in higher revenues to the company.
Retail industry sector encompasses companies and individuals that are engaged in selling products to consumers. As the biggest economy in the world, retail industry in the U.S. is one of the biggest industries in the world with total sales of nearly $5 trillion in 2016 as per www.census.gov. National retail foundation’s report mentions retail industry as the largest private sector employer in the United states with about 15 million people working in the industry. Retail industry in the united states comprises brick and mortar stores and a growing e-commerce sector.
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
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
US faced a major recession during the year 2007 and this created a major pre-recession impact and post-recession impact on various retail stores. Customers started looking on for deals in retail market as they had less money to spend. The following document is all about the growth of four major retail giants namely the Kohl’s, Target, Walmart, and Macy’s whose growth over the period 2003 – 2013 are compared and contrasted. Walmart was the only company to increase in sales from the all the above companies as they targeted the lower end customers.
J.C. Penney does a variety of things well which includes possessing a diverse supplier base, a unique marketing campaign, effective inventory management, and point-of-sale technology initiatives. They also possess national and private brands along with in-store departments such as MNG by Mango, Call It Spring by Aldo Group, and Sephora which attracts younger, affluent customers. Seattle’s Best Coffee is also a compelling department which includes a full-service café. Not to mention, their rewards program is an aspect of their business they are doing well. Their program offers discounts and rewards for shopping which enables their customers to obtain good deals. J.C. Penney has a strong purpose which entails “fitting the diversity
JC Penney is an American department store chain with 1,095 locations throughout the United States. In the latter half of the 20th century, shopping malls became very popular and most of the company’s stores were situated in the downtown areas, they followed the trend of developing more stores in the shopping malls to attract customers and increase the financial profitability of the company. Conversely, JC Penney had freestanding stores, and was able to get consumer traffic which helped the company earn a profit and increase its market share.
The General Environment is defined in the textbook as, the economic, technological, sociocultural, and political/legal trends that indirectly affect all organizations. The economic component of a firm’s general environment refers to the growing or shrinking of the economy. Target, as any other retail company is
The retail industry has always been a large portion of the U.S. economy. In 2012, the industry had nearly one million stores and accounted for four trillion dollars in revenue. An estimated two-thirds of the U.S. GDP
JC Penney had to undergo and withstand several competitive issues to include changing of brand image, selling strategy and marketing strategy. JC Penney also had to account for Environmental Factors to include: a population that continued to age and also unemployment rates. JC Penney tried to influence customers by portraying an everlasting sale. No matter how hard JC Penney tried to market their products, if people didn’t
Penney Corporation (The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica, 2018). From 1913 to 1924 the store was entitled the J.C. Penney Stores Company, until the corporation embraced its new name in 1968. In the early 2000’s the company managed approximately 1,000 stores within the U.S. and Puerto Rico, with its headquarters located in Plano, Texas. The company has been publicly traded on the New Stock Exchange since 1927. Similar to its competitors such as: Kohl’s, Wal-Mart, and Target, this department store chain is fundamentally focused on the retailing of family clothing, jewelry, cosmetics, and cookware. Conversely, in 2006 J.C. Penney revealed its new partnership with the cosmetic chain Sephora. “In 2008 it launched the American Living brand, a line of clothing, accessories, and home decor developed by the American fashion designer Ralph Lauren (The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d.).” Now that we have learned a little bit about the background of J.C. Penney. Let us further broaden this report by becoming acquainted with one of this corporation’s former CEO’s and recount his pricing
Retail is the selling of services or goods to consumers to gain a profit. The retail industry is one of the most important and profitable industries in the world economy today. Total annual U.S. retail sales have increased an average of 4.5% between 1993 and 2015, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The simple idea of creating retail shops, discount stores, and super shops has altered the world of shoppers and consumers worldwide. An estimated two-thirds of the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) comes from retail consumption (2015 US Retail Industry Overview - Info, Facts, Research, Data, Trivia," 2015).The retail industry is generally divided into several types of retail stores such as, department stores, supermarkets, convenience stores, online stores and malls.