Nordstrom Challenges

(External view) Kohl’s has an effective communication to employees and customers. Also, it has strong management team and market share leadership.

When Nordstrom first started it wasn’t the big retail store that it is today in fact its name wasn’t even Nordstrom, it was Wallin & Nordstrom and it only sold shoes. The founders of Wallin & Nordstrom are John W. Nordstrom and Carl Wallin. Nordstrom didn 't really get that name until 1971. Before becoming just Nordstrom the company decided to make some changes and in 1963 Nordstrom decided to expand and include women apparel, and in 1966 they incorporated men’s and children 's wear. In 1973 Nordstrom was recognized as “the largest fashion specialty store on the west coast” this as stated by the Nordstrom website. Although the Nordstrom store beginnings were in the west coast the retail stores started to expand quickly and began to open stores in the east coast and California. As for today Nordstrom is not just a big retail store, but it is known as a great place to work by Fortune 100 best companies to work for, which has 329 stores located in 39 different states and Canada and 200 Nordstrom rack stores. Just in 2015 the company reached a record in sales making $14.1 billion. Nordstrom still has a long way to go and plans to keep expanding in Canada, but also plans to have 300 Nordstrom racks store by the year 2020.

They also understand that “when you stop evolving with your customer, you die,” as Jamie Nordstrom, president of stores, has said. They are building fulfillment centers to accommodate online shopping more quickly, use RFID chips to keep their perpetual inventory system for stores and online to share, and invested more into online growth than brick and mortar stores, knowing that this is where their growth is coming from. “Over the next several years Nordstrom expects to derive half of its sales from the Rack and from its online units, versus 38 percent today,” and that’s because “the U.S. Commerce Department estimates that electronic commerce amounted to 6.2 percent of total retail sales in the first quarter of 2014.” Analysts have also been saying Nordstrom has thrived compared to competitors because it is a pioneer in perks like free shipping and also having the unique diversity of products online. (https://nrf.com/news/nordstrom-exec-evolve-or-die) (http://www.luxurydaily.com/nordstrom-integrates-instagram-to-create-shopping-experience/) (http://seattletimes.com/html/businesstechnology/2024313399_nordstromearningsxml.html) (http://wwwiebe.com/nordstrom-customer-service-first/)

Before analyzing those motivational practices, it is essential to understand the core to the Nordstrom’s business - the customer service, known as the Nordstrom Way. As stated in the case, it is “the customer service like no one else offers, service above and beyond the call of duty.” In order to achieve the Nordstrom Way, the stores request their salespersons to be “upbeat, ambitious but, at the same time, selfless.” They keep personal books listing each of their customers and record every activity and correspondence; they send out thank you letters to customers for purchases regardless of how small the transactions are; they personally deliver purchases outside of work time and even on holidays. The approach has proven to be successful, as it cultivates the loyalty within the customers and generates glowing sales records. On the other hand, because the Nordstrom Way is result orientated, extra works are justifiable as long as they lead to the successful sales. Salespersons have to sacrifice their off duty time as these are often considered “extra” and “non-selling” activity.

Consumers increasingly consider the social impact of the money they spend. Some will pay more to support retailers who assert sustainable practices, for instance, by buying products made with recycled material. Others avoid companies notorious for irresponsible or unethical practices, such as outsourcing manufacturing to exploitative sweatshops in under-developed countries. More than ever, retail store owners must consider the ethical and social ramifications of their actions, as well as the actions of their suppliers (Mack, n.d.).

The diagram above shows the principles of customer service. First, we have teamwork. Employees of Nordstrom Inc. need to work in unison to ensure that their customers are accorded with the best customer experience. First impression is everything. The Company will strive to ensure that the services , presentation and appearance of its employees captures the interest or attention of its consumers with the first impression. The company will use appropriate channels for instance social media to effectively communicate and interact with its consumers. The Company will continue to offer its consumers with high quality products and services consistently. Nordstrom Inc. will always strive to meet consumer needs.

Nordstrom carries thousands of women’s brands so Topshop and Topshop Green will have a greater market of brands to compete with to get their name out there. Topshop is lucky that they already have such a strong brand reputation and many consumers know a lot about the brand. Also, there are little, if any at all, sustainable clothing lines carried at

Description: The speaker Nicole Smith told us that Nordstrom’s philosophy is to make customers feel good. They work on creating long-term relationship with their customers. Therefore, their employees should love their company, know well the products that they are selling, and know what the customers are looking for. All their higher level position such as store manager must have experience of working on sales floor and get promoted to a higher level position.

Nordstrom, created in 1901 by John W. Nordstrom as a small shoe store in Seattle, Washington, is a major department store located in the United States and Canada. At Nordstrom you can find apparel, home goods, shoes, and accessories for your daily lives. Nordstrom has over 300 stores located in 40 states and has become one of the top department stores through their innovative tactics, great customer service, welcoming store environment, and their wide range of brands and products.

Nordstrom is a market leader in their own right. A seamless shopping experience coupled with personalized service has made Nordstrom the place to shop. Employees are masters at clienteling and building a lasting relationship with the consumers that pass through their doors. Nordstrom has also established a strong social media presence on all major platforms through consistency and interaction with their followers. Another strong suit of Nordstrom’s is their e-commerce and mobile business. Tying these three things together gives Nordstrom the upper hand in the industry.

Executive Summary The research aims to investigate the relationship between how Nordstrom has adopted to improve its customer centricity by the SERVQUAL and the 3Ps analysis. SERVQUAL was developed by A. Parasuranman, Leonard Berry and Valerie A Zeithaml in the 1980s. According to Parasuraman, Berry, & Zeithaml, SERVQUAL is a multi-item scale developed to assess customer perceptions of service quality in service and retail businesses (Parasuranman, Berry, & Zeithaml, 1988). The five dimensions of SERVQUAL, which are tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, and empathy.

Company & its Strategy: The Company Philosophy to offer the Customer best in service, Selection, quality and value was the competitive advantage of Nordstrom in being no 1 in implementing the High-service strategy as its Key success factor and being the Gold Medalist in National Retail Merchants Association.

Establishing a culture that is customer focus starts at the very top. The Company will therefore encourage the top management to offer strong leadership to the rest of the Company. Nordstrom Inc. will develop a systematic method that will be used to monitor and collect customer feedback. The Company will build a listening program or a platform through which customers will air their views. The Company will also strive to align all its employees to its vision and objectives. The Company will take the necessary actions required to improve customer experience. Nordstrom Inc. will ensure that its employees remain committed to Company goals. It will ensure that it always provides its customers with the best customer experience.

I find your post very detailed and easy to be understood. It is true that the strategy is a very vital point in a business since the strategy can determine the profits or losses that can be achieved. That is why organizations should review and adjust their strategies to compete successfully and to seize opportunities, and avoid the threats that time brings, and even go a step further when they sought to lead to a future desired and create innovative ways of action. Finally, after reading your post I can say that Nordstrom's competitive strategy is well focused to reach its customers, bring new customers, and retain those who already have.

The society we live in today, has made efforts to make the world a more eco-friendly environment. For the most part, different industries have made a push to better the ecosystem. The oil industry developed a “clean” fuel refinery, a design to eliminate or minimize solid waste. The automotive industry has promoted cars that are fueled by power instead of gas, to decrease pollution, and the manufacturing industry has gone green by developing new equipment that uses less energy. It is almost as if “going green” has become “trendy”. Our society made it clear to corporate America that living in a more environmentally sound world was important to them. In 2014 it was noted that an estimated 17 to 20% of water contamination came from areas of the fashion industry, and that the fashion industry, is the 2nd most polluting industry in the world. Who would have thought that the clothes we wear had such a colossal impact on the environment that surrounds us? However, just like the oil, automotive and manufacturing industry, the apparel industry is continuing to make progress in creating “greener” fashion.