A question that is frequently asked at retail forums is: Which retailer is the clear omnichannel leader? The usual benchmarks are that the leader should be at the vanguard of retailing industry and should have achieved impressive financial success while doing it. Of several contending candidates, one retailer is placed much ahead of others…. Macy’s.
Here’s why. According to available financial figures, the overall sales at Macy’s has grown from $26 Bn in 2012 to $28 Bn in 2015, a growth of nearly 7%. However, its online sales growth has seen a whopping 100% rise from 2 Bn to 4.1 Bn!
Watch Video:
Macy’s began its omnichannel journey in 2009, and four years later it is reaping the rewards of its multi-year efforts. Their omnichannel initiatives include investments in improving the website and mobile app to make shopping easier and faster, adopting digital marketing technologies that leverage a 360-degree view of customer shopping behavior, and collaborating on merchandising strategies across all channels.
Currently, Macy’s has enabled 292 stores to fulfill online orders. By next year, this number is likely to jump to 500 stores
Recently they announced setting up of a digital technology unit in San Francisco, and a greatly restructured organization that will see the merger of online and offline teams such as merchandising and marketing so that they are better able to serve brick-and-mortar stores as well as internet customers.
“Our business is rapidly evolving in response to changes in the way customers are shopping across stores, desktops, tablets and smartphones,” says chairman and CEO Terry J. Lundgren.” We must continue to invest in our business to focus on where the customer is headed—to prepare for what’s next.”
Watch Video:
Macy’s move to create what it calls “one unified merchandising and marketing organization—a hybrid of store and online buying,” is unusual, says Nikki Baird, managing partner at Retail Systems Research, a research and consulting firm.
Macy’s also announced plans to increase its ability to fulfil orders from all full-line Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s stores as well as from its five web-focused fulfillment centers in Arizona, California, Connecticut, Tennessee and West Virginia. The retailer shipped about $1 billion of the company’s direct-to-consumer shipments came from Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s fulfilment stores.
Watch Video:
“Going forward, Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s will be better able to move more quickly and nimbly to select merchandise, assort inventories and serve total customer demand, no matter how, when or where the customer shops. Some redundant activity also can be avoided to accelerate speed to market, partner more effectively with vendor resources and ensure the merchandising organizations are more responsive to the marketplace in making and implementing decisions,” Lundgren says.
Most retailers cannot match Macy’s spectrum of omnichannel initiatives because they have not created the multi-year master plan needed to achieve it. This means they have not done the consistent investment required to create accurate, real-time views of inventory, order management, supply chain management, store and online transactions, and customer histories….
For a deeper insight, join the first India Omnichannel Forum (IOF) which will be held as a concurrent event with the India Retail Forum 2015 on September 15th and 16th, 2015 at the Rennaissance Hotel & Convention Centre, Mumbai.
India Omnichannel Forum (IOF 2015) is a tailored and one-of-its-kind technology forum for business owners, business leaders and technology teams to meet, engage and conceptualise the next-generation of consumer experiences. Enriching the quality and expanse of retail experiences across physical and digital worlds through intuitive consumer engagement and technology enablement is the vision of the India Omnichannel Forum. Mirroring this vision, this inaugural year’s theme will be ‘Consumer Centric Commerce’.
Click here to register for India Omnichannel Forum (IOF 2015)
Must Read
