Retail icons spend time with Wharton students
Whitney Beckett (WG '11)
Issue date: 11/16/09 Section: News
Obviously, retail is suffering given the challenges in the economy and Lundgren indicated that he is not expecting a recovery before next year. "Customers set the reset button, and customer behavior changed over night. People realized they could live with less," said Lundgren. "Historically, consumers have returned to their previous shopping habits, but consumer behavior has changed so dramatically that it remains to be seen what will happen, but the price-value relationship will be increasingly important." "You'll see a different situation this year because retailers all got burned and we now probably all have lower inventory levels," he said. "It's my dream that they will say, 'Mr. Lundgren, we've run out of inventory.'"
With many retail competitors having declared bankruptcy in the last year, Macy's has been busy restructuring and investing to get closer to the customer. One example of this involved the launch of My Macy's. Rolled out last February, it is a localization strategy that shifts responsibility for driving sales to the stores. Macy's also developed a partnership with Dunnhumby, the consumer insight company that made its name through its relationship with British retailer Tesco. "Consumers will tell you what they aspire to do, but this tells you what they actually did," he said. Lundgren called the My Macy's investment "the biggest change we've made in the last 30 years."
One way Macy's hopes to continue stealing market share and increasing margins is by increasing its exclusive offerings. This fall, Macy's launched an exclusive diffusion line with Rachel Roy that is "selling like hot cakes," Lundgren said, and the retailer just signed to take Ellen Tracy exclusive. Last year, Tommy Hilfiger went exclusive to Macy's and since then has become one of its best sellers. Another top exclusive line for Macy's is Martha Stewart, which Lundgren said does hundreds of millions of dollars with Macy's. According to Martha Stewart, who came to speak to students after Lundgren's talk, her products are the most registered for product on macys.com
With many retail competitors having declared bankruptcy in the last year, Macy's has been busy restructuring and investing to get closer to the customer. One example of this involved the launch of My Macy's. Rolled out last February, it is a localization strategy that shifts responsibility for driving sales to the stores. Macy's also developed a partnership with Dunnhumby, the consumer insight company that made its name through its relationship with British retailer Tesco. "Consumers will tell you what they aspire to do, but this tells you what they actually did," he said. Lundgren called the My Macy's investment "the biggest change we've made in the last 30 years."
One way Macy's hopes to continue stealing market share and increasing margins is by increasing its exclusive offerings. This fall, Macy's launched an exclusive diffusion line with Rachel Roy that is "selling like hot cakes," Lundgren said, and the retailer just signed to take Ellen Tracy exclusive. Last year, Tommy Hilfiger went exclusive to Macy's and since then has become one of its best sellers. Another top exclusive line for Macy's is Martha Stewart, which Lundgren said does hundreds of millions of dollars with Macy's. According to Martha Stewart, who came to speak to students after Lundgren's talk, her products are the most registered for product on macys.com
Viewing Comments 1 - 3 of 3
Bruce F
posted 11/17/09 @ 4:23 AM EST
THANKS!! 4 This Artical,Trying 2 Learn? bf 5
Pittsburgh movers
posted 11/18/09 @ 1:14 PM EST
This was a great speaker series. I am surprised that the average income at Macy's is so high. Sure, it's an expensive store but with 810 locations it's amazing that they attract so many $75k+ customers to keep that many stores in business and profitable. (Continued…)
Tina Gupta
posted 11/25/09 @ 6:18 AM EST
Hi, this Tina from mumbai, thats a nice write up, I did my MBA from Sikkim Manipal University Distance Education. they too provide awesome courses, with no entrance exams and with reasonable fees too. (Continued…)
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