As Amazon continues to heap pressure on retailers by shifting customer expectations concerning fulfillment and pricing, department stores may be suffering more than anyone, says a new study from L2News by Adriel Tey .
Many retailers have responded by leveraging off-price subsidiaries to acquire new, value-oriented customers attracted by the prospect of finding bargains on luxury items formerly stocked at full-price stores, says the report. This represents a reversion to a tactic department stores know best: getting customers into stores.
Department Stores Tactics to Push Customers to Shop In-Store | ||
Tactic | Department Store | Off-Price Subsidiaries |
Promotes In-store discounts or services | 58% | 71% |
Offers discount for going into store | 8% | 29% |
Promotes store offering | 17% | 29 |
Source: L2 News, September 2017 |
Tactically, off-price subsidiaries of department stores don’t need to offer direct-to-consumer (DTC) e-commerce to succeed, says the report, as evidenced by the continued success of off-price retailers. However, these retailers must leverage digital assets to drive potential customers to stores. For example, Bloomingdale’s Outlet and Macy’s Backstage use their homepages to advertise store-specific discounts.
In addition, 29% of off-price offshoots in L2’s study ask site visitors to select a favorite store location, allowing them to send newly acquired and loyal customers targeted alerts about location-specific promotions, says the report. By prompting site visitors to sign up for email and text alerts, off-price offshoots can stay top of mind when acquiring new customers. The report notes that only a third of brands in L2’s analysis employ this touch point, suggesting there is substantial room for growth.
For additional information from 12inc. please visit here.