Nordstrom vs. Macy's

Loblaw’s is one of the most successful companies in the grocery retail industry in Canada, in order for Loblaw’s to penetrate a global market they must identify, plan and execute a strategy. Loblaw’s needs to identify new market potential internationally which in turn increase profit and gross margins, in order to continue expanding. Such starting locations for expansion that seem feasible are developing cities in the United States that are relatively close to the Canadian boarder. This will make it easier to control and monitor this project closely, because since this is the first global expansion, Loblaw’s should keep a close eye on their productivity to determine if they can compete globally. Their financial records indicate that they can expand. Their gross margins and profits are in relatively good standing indicating that they have more money to payoff expenses and potentially expand. The Loblaw’s philosophy of not acquiring debt and using cash flow to purchase new real estate

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

The companies that were chosen for a company analysis include Macy’s, Kohl’s, and Burlington. Since the retail industry has been lagging behind lately, these companies will help determine the prospective financial investment in the retail industry. As Macy’s as our primary company, we chose Kohl’s and Burlington to be the two comparative companies. These companies are comparable due to the same SIC code of 5311 in the subgroup of department stores. These companies offer similar products and services with little differentiation between the three.

Through the 70’s the company continued to grow. In 1974 annual sales hit $130 million. By 1980 Nordstrom was the third largest specialty retailer in the country. Sales hit $407 million and in the next few years, sales continued to rise. Nordstrom’s success was due to many factors. Shoes accounted for about 18 percent of total sales. In addition Nordstrom consistently maintained huge inventories and selection, which were usually twice the size of other department stores. Anchor malls seek the company, as a cornerstone of downtown renovation projects or as an added jewel for high end shopping customers. By being able to expand not only by adding locations, but also by expanding merchandise sold, Nordstrom became a dominant force in the industry and strengthened their market share position.

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

Over the last few years, it has been predominantly evident that Sears Canada has been not performing relevant to the standards present within the competitive industry. The market of retail department stores has dramatically changed since the time the corporate entity first began. To stay relevant within today’s retail industry, Sears Canada has to change their current operations. In today's market, the power of value-driven consumer products has been dominating the industry due to their affordable prices and emphasized popularity. Sears Canada has failed to distinguish themselves within the industry as either an affordable or a high quality department store. With emerging high-end retailers like Nordstrom, Holt Renfrew, the Hudson's Bay Company, and the rise of online discount retailers like Amazon and eBay, Sears can not afford to flood both market segments. This has become a major issue that Sears Canada is facing, as the company will need to differentiate themselves from their competitors by focusing their resources in the home improvement industry.

We all know that both Walmart and Macys are two of the most popular stores, they both have different concepts of the customer experience have manage to divide the public right down the middle. Macy’s stores serves high-end clientele, Walmart has more relaxed and price friendly appeal to those of who are in the middle or even low income. Many middle income Americans shop at Walmart primarily because of their low prices, there are shoppers that gathers shop for the quality of Macys. Is just a matter of asking shoppers a question: Why Walmart vs Macys? What is more important quality or quantity for the shopper’s money? Depending at their answer could change the future of each store, and maybe each store could change their perspective towers their shoppers.

Nordstrom’s is classified as one of the biggest U.S. department stores. Along with Sears, Macy’s, and JC Penny’s, Nordstrom manages each department in their stores as an individual buying center. Every group functions separately from one another, and is administered by a buyer who is in charge of all varieties and styles of merchandise sold. Promotions that can be used in the stores are included, as well. “The company has also benefited from a new computerized inventory system that gives buyers and salespeople the necessary data to make smarter decisions about what is needed in the stores—and what isn’t.” (Lamb, Hair, McDaniel 569). This new and improved system allows the department store to market a greater amount of full priced items, which ultimately increase sales. The buyer is also able to easily determine what items to obtain and exhibit in the store by using this system.

In 2009 and forward, Loblaw Companies were up against aggressive competitive markets while still dealing with the backlash from the 2008 world economic crisis. Same store sales were on the decline and Loblaw’s was in desperate need to change their store strategies. By 2011, Loblaw’s had come up with the idea to diversify and expand their operations with new upgrades to in store departments as well as expanding upon their leading brands, President’s Choice and No Name. This case study underlines the premise of national and global strategies, which is a key subject matter and general broad topic when studying International Business. The main concerns of this case study would be to identify if Loblaw’s new strategies gave them a leading edge in the ever-expanding market, as well as seeing if these new strategies will hold up to market standards in the near future.

Nordstrom’s greatest risks are to expand stores in tough economies. In addition, since Nordstrom relies on local buyers, they must constantly be converting their shoppers into buyers to be profitable. Moreover, as Nordstrom sells brands designed and produced by other companies, it is highly dependent on those companies and also shares their risks such as changing trends and lifestyle. New entrants with smaller segments and better specialization will also pose risk to Nordstrom. The biggest competitors of Nordstrom are The Gap Inc., Abercrombie and Fitch Co., Bloomingdales Inc., Neiman Marcus Group Inc. In addition, online giants such as Amazon.com, Inc. also are one of their biggest competitors.

Shop.ca faces many negative aspects of the external environment that will affect the company’s future. E-commerce is not well tracked on statistics Canada but data in 2012 showed that 83 percent of Canadians are online and only 56 percent of those actually end up making their purchases online, this number has now grown but not significantly. In 2012 retail sales in Canada only generated $25 billion dollars, compared to the U.K who's online sales accounted for more than 20 percent of retail totaling almost $200 billion dollars. Latest statistics in Canada now show that online retailing is expected to total nearly $40 billion dollars by 2018, which still will not even be half of what the UK was generating, in what will be, 6 years ago (Statistics

The two companies that I decided to compare and contrast on their marketing strategies are Sephora and American Eagle Outfitters. The Demographics for Sephora are Age , 74% of them are millennials, for race It’s all races but mostly all of them are Asian and Hispanic. The income is upper class and the relationship status is single and married. The psychographics for Sephora is that if they are interested in hair, skin, and makeup products. The attitude is if they like spending money on beauty products. Also if they like to wear makeup.

You made a valid point about Millennials and QVC definitely faces some challenges reaching this demographic group. Millennials are a highly social group that is driven by experience, loyal to a brand, and prefer affordability and convenience. Despite QVC’s efforts in designing a website for purchasing products and providing applications on mobile devices and on tablets like iPad, the company still needs to create additional ways to capture the attention and loyalty of this generation. For instance, providing a user-friendly interface, creating interactive features, displaying trendy videos and graphics, offering discounts, providing fast checkout, improving application performance, and empowering personal expression through customization of

Diversity is another major influencer of Millennials, with such a strong focus on creativity and having a heterogeneous organization through diversity. Education levels are also at an all-time-high with Millennials, with which comes the optimistic outlook most Millennials have on life. With many Gen Y entering the work force now, the shift of the markets are moving to better be attuned to their new masters attitudes, values, and beliefs, as the new face, voice, and shape of future generations. The transition from generation X to Y like all previous transitions will impact the markets, and revolutionize marketing strategies to be more attuned to today’s generation and how they perceive brand awareness, brand loyalty, the use of greener/ethical materials, innovativeness, and creativity.