Nordstrom 's A Fashion Bazaar

Weaknesses - Although Nordstrom has substantial strength, the organization is not without weaknesses. First, although Nordstrom’s has a superior selection in comparison to the majority of other retail clothing companies, their quality also comes at a cost that many consumers are not willing to pay. In a period of economic instability and uncertainty, consumers are turning to online retailers such as Amazon in order to fulfill their clothing needs. Moreover, consumers are looking for more convenient ways of purchasing products and clothing is typically something where overnight shipping is acceptable versus an immediate need. Additionally, another weakness of Nordstrom is the geographic dispersion of their retail locations which are most commonly associated with shopping malls. Coincidentally, shopping malls are also struggling to compete with online retailers, thus Nordstrom experiences less opportunistic walk-in customers. On the same token, the opportunity costs for underserved

Even though Nordstrom and Neiman Marcus retailers had the same basic store structure, the differences are noticeably visible in the costumer’s eyes. Entering into Neiman Marcus, customers have the feeling of having found a high-class store. This sensation makes Nordstrom rank as a store for people with an average purchasing power. Meaning, people of upper middle class. Similar to Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus has a showcase on both sides of the main door. The peculiar and different between both stores is reflected in the modern glass structure of the Neiman Marcus showcase, in which the facade of the main door is made, together with its shop windows or showcase. That structure provides it a luxurious touch of the last architecturally speaking trend. Neiman Marcus’ shop windows, unlike those of Nordstrom, they are oversize and have the same height as the main door although, they are wider. They occupy the entire main façade or, almost all of it. In addition, they are always stinging some of the most exclusive seasonal products in fashion in the show window. Neiman Marcus store does not have a central corridor that takes you straight to the central stairs, placed in the center of the store. Nevertheless, we can assume its main corridor or aisle is circular. A great strategy to make customers spend more time in the store and buy products that were not on their list. The first thing you come across when entering the store is a welcoming mannequin (in form of an elegant

However, smaller stores have high prices, while larger stores have lower prices. All of the topics that we analyzed throughout this report are necessary to complete a consumer’s shopping experience. Therefore, a store must be on top of its game, ensuring that it does all it can to rank high in all of these topics. A store could miss a purchase due to no service or the lack of sizes able to be found, and this could send that consumer looking elsewhere. Furthermore, this demonstrates how competitive the retail environment is.

Nordstrom has been known in the industry for its Cult like culture and also has a reputation that if a Nordie is able to sustain the culture they will be able to earn best in class income in the retail world. But, due to questionable employee goal setting practices and associated misalignment of management incentives, Nordstrom is facing serious backlash from various factions, particularly from employees and regional labor groups. The situation has overflowed to the media and the resulting negative publicity is hurting Nordstrom’s case even further.

Target’s business-level strategy is one that does not strictly focus entirely on one plan to gain a competitive advantage over competition. It encompasses various strategic and meticulous planning and decision making that is implemented in order to position the company at the top of the retail industry. With competition from the likes of Wal-Mart, Sam’s Club, and Costco, Target uses several clever and “out-of-the-box” ideas to attract consumer attention and ultimately increase market share within the industry. Most of the company’s ideas centered more on the differentiation of products and services provided to customers than lowering prices. For quite some time, the company’s plan was to not compete head-to-head with Wal-Mart in terms of lowering prices but instead to provide their customers, who they identify as “guests”, with a special experience every time they visited a Target location. One idea that was implemented was to market and sell upscale, trendy clothing and unique merchandise at discounted prices.1 This strategy, known as the “cheap-chic” strategy, focused on providing good quality clothing from various well known designers and fancy products from high-profile manufacturers for prices lower than their competition. This plan was vital because it began essentially began the concept of customers referring to Target as “Tar-zhay” which according to Patrick Barwise and Sean Meehan, who are university professors, as a “connote its trendy sensibility”. Target

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

Expansion was not the only change Nordstrom implemented to differentiate the company from competitors. By broadening their inventory selection and making it more accessible to their customer base, Nordstrom began setting the bar for all retailers in the industry. With the additions of departments such as juniors and sportswear they began to expand and increase their target market to a younger customer. In the 80’s, Nordstrom modernization continued by adding women and men’s vendors such as Calson, DKNY, Kenneth Cole, and Tommy Bahamma. In May 2000, Nordstrom declared “Reinvent Yourself”

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.

In 2005, Macy’s attempted to reposition its strategy to attract a new market according to product

Figure 2 shows an actual product (children’s wear) offered at Kmart. An actual product is the physical good/service (Moore, 2008). Kmart offers a wide range of products, from clothing to homeware (Kmart, n.d). This touchpoint relates to marketing as well as merchandising. Merchandising is an aspect of retail in which products are presented in retail stores (Levy, Weitz, & Grewal, 2014). Retailing is the activities involved in adding value to the selling of products (Levy et al., 2014). The t-shirts are offered in a wide variety of colours and sizes. Moreover, the t-shirts are displayed on mannequins to further display the product, thus adding value to

Nordstrom Park Meadows Store #34 Nordstrom The 2013 Southwest Region Intern Project: The Millennial Customer Prepared for: Store #34 and the Southwest Region Prepared by: Brian McIntyre, Intern of Men’s Sportswear Devin Francil, Intern of Individualist and Via C July 23rd, 2013 Table of Contents Table of Contents Executive Summary 3 Who is the Millennial Customer? 4 Situational Analysis of Nordstrom 4

Threat: Forces shaping the Nordstrom’s strategy is that it is operating in highly competitive environment, where apparel sold by it is not only competing with large organized departmental chains but, also from small independent boutiques in the U.S. As a result competition has become very stiff in retail

We don’t rely on promotions, be it one-day sales, coupons, or “friends of friends” sales. We think our regular pricing has to have integrity.” Fifth is presentation, where the stores image is determined. Nordstrom is known for its relaxed upscale image. Sixth is personnel or customer service, where employees assist customers with their shopping experience. Nordstrom’s personnel are outstanding while they may not serve customers champagne they definitely will go out of their way to assist customers. I think that their personnel have to be the reason behind their success. Whether the story about the customer buying one shoe or the customer returning tires are true or not, gives the current and potential customers a sense of comfort and good customer service beats prices any day.