03 Sep 2006 1831H

Retailing and “aesthetics”

In an effort to distinguish themselves from the discounters and specialty stores which have largely eaten their lunch, department stores are going upscale in the way the customer experience helps close the sale. In other words, they are looking to design strategy to help differentiate their consumer experience from the competition’s.

My take on this is that, due to the economics of the marketplace and supply chain management of the large retailers, they are really just rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic, since this is not tied to more specialized products, like say, Sears’ Kenmore appliances and Craftsman tools, which are really the only reason to shop at Sears now, since their clothing lines have been attacked at both ends by Wal-Mart and Target, as well as specialty retailers like the Gap, Express, so on. Lines like electronics have been rendered irrelevant by Best Buy, Circuit City, and also small online retailers as well. In addition, the boomer generation that provided the bulk of traditional department store customers are dying off and are not being replaced by younger ones. Retailers like Target and Ikea have tied their value and pricing strategy to design, not decoration, and that is why they succeed.

Link goes to the Kansas City Star piece. Use BugMeNot to bypass the login.

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07 Sep 2006 1933H

tim writes:

Got to say that I agree with you. Macy’s for example, has eliminated commission sales on everything except fine watches and men’s suits ( I think). Service is crap. They have no supply chain management…at least not at the level of a best buy etc. I dont’ see how they are going to survive…it’s all on momentum at this point.

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