Tier 2# Immigration - 落地生根
y*r
1 楼
现在每次买个衣服，都不知道衣服的真实价格是多少。希望其他store跟进。
NEW YORK (AP) -- J.C. Penney is permanently marking down all of its
merchandise by at least 40 percent so shoppers no longer have to wait for
sales to get bargains.
Penney said Wednesday that it is getting rid of the hundreds of sales it
offers each year in favor of a simpler approach to pricing. Starting on Feb.
1, the retailer is rolling out an "Every Day" pricing strategy with much
fewer sales throughout the year.
The plan, the first major move by Apple executive Ron Johnson since he
became Penney's CEO in November, is different from Wal-Mart's iconic
everyday low pricing. Unlike Wal-Mart, Penney's goal isn't to undercut
competitors, but rather to offer customers more predictable pricing.
"Pricing is actually a pretty simple and straightforward thing," Johnson
told the Associated Press during an interview ahead of the announcement at
the company's Plano, Tex. headquarters. "Customers will not pay literally a
penny more than the true value of the product."
Penney's plan comes as stores are struggling to wean Americans off of the
profit-busting bargains that they have come to expect in the weak economy.
The move is risky, though, because shoppers who love to bargain-hunt may be
turned off by the absence of sales.
"The big question on investors' minds will be: 'How customers will react to
a single price point versus a perceived discount under the old strategy?'"
says Citi Investment Research analyst Deborah L. Weinswig.
Here's how Penney's pricing strategy will work:
— Sale prices become everyday prices. The company will use sales data from
last year to slash prices on all merchandise at least 40 percent or lower
than the previous year's prices. So, a woman's St. John's Bay blouse
regularly priced at $14.99 could have the "Every Day" price of $7.
— Fewer sales. The retailer will pick items to go on sale each month for a
"Month-Long Value." For instance, jewelry and Valentine's Day gifts would go
on sale in February, while Christmas decorations would be discounted in
November. Items that don't sell well would go on clearance during the first
and third Friday of every month when many Americans get paid. Those items
will be tagged "Best Prices," signaling to customers that's the cheapest
price.
— New tags. The retailer used to pile stickers on price tags to indicate
each time an item was marked down. But now each time an item gets a new
price, it gets a new tag too. A red tag indicates an "Every Day" price, a
white tag a "Month-Long Value" and a blue tag a "Best Price."
— Simpler pricing. Penney will use whole figures when pricing items. In
other words, you won't see jeans with a price tag of $19.99, but rather $19
or $20.
— New advertising. Ads began airing Wednesday with a shopper screaming "No"
to discounts as they look in their mailboxes, a pile of coupons and big
sales signs. The company also has a new spokeswoman (talk show host Ellen
DeGeneres) and logo (a red outline of a box that features JCP in the corner.
) And a 96-page catalog will be mailed each month to 14 million customers,
along with other promotional efforts.
The strategy, unveiled at Penney's investor meeting on Wednesday, comes as
the retailer tries to turn around its business. Heavy discounting has hurt
department stores like Penney. The group generates an average of about $200
per square foot, less than half the $550 or $600 stores like Victoria's
Secret and Lululemon make per square foot, according to John Bemis, head of
Jones Lang LaSalle Inc.'s retail leasing team.
But Penney has been a laggard even among department stores as its core
middle-class customers have been among the hardest hit by the weak economy.
It's also failed to attract younger customers even though its added hip
brands like Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen's teen clothing collection called
Olsenboye. The stores also have been by Johnson himself describes as "tired."
For the 11 months through December, Penney's revenue at stores opened at
least a year — an indicator of a retailer's health — rose 0.7 percent,
while competitors like Macy's Inc. rose 5.4 percent, and Kohl's was up 1.1
percent. Penney posted a loss in the third quarter and cut its fourth-
quarter earnings outlook after a disappointing holiday season when it had to
heavily discount to attract consumers.
The new pricing caps months of speculation about what Penney's future might
look like under the leadership of Johnson, a former Target Corp executive
and the mastermind behind the success at Apple Inc.'s stores.
Johnson, who joined the company's board in August, already has put his stamp
on the retailer. He has tapped former colleagues at Apple and Target to
join him at Penney. That includes Target's top marketing executive Michael
Francis to be Penney's president.
Johnson also is borrowing from the playbook of Apple, which shuns
discounting and focuses on selling products and offering services.
In December, Penney said it will have homemaker doyenne Martha Stewart
develop mini-shops starting next year. And during Wednesday's meeting,
Penney executives outlined plans to in the next two years add Main Street, a
series of 80 to 100 brand shops in stores similar to the Martha Stewart
ones. It also plans to open areas in all stores called Town Square, a place
that will offer services and expert advice, similar to Apple's Genius bars.
Perhaps the biggest challenge for Penney is to sell shoppers on its new
pricing. For years, Penney, like many other stores, has propped up price.
The intent: to make it look like shoppers are getting great discounts when
items go on sale.
Penney has been an especially big promoter. Last year, the company, which
offered 590 sales events last year, nearly three-quarters of its revenue
come from merchandise that was discounted by 50 percent or more.
That's more than double the retail industry average. According to an
estimate by management consultant firm A.T. Kearney, a typical retailer
sells between 40 and 45 percent of its inventory at a promotional price, up
from 15 to 20 percent a decade ago.
The increased discounting has been a vicious cycle that only feeds into
shoppers' insatiable appetite for bigger and better discounts. In fact,
whereas it took 38 percent off to get shoppers to buy 10 years ago, it now
takes discounts of 60 percent, Johnson says.
At Penney, the regular price on an item that costs $10 to make rose 43
percent, from $28 in 2002 to $40 in 2011. But because of all of its sales
and other promotions, what it actually ended up selling for rose only 15
cents, from $15.80 to $15.95 during that same period.
"I have been struck by the extraordinary amount of promotional activity,
which to me, didn't feel like it was appropriate for a department store,"
Johnson says. "Once you start to promote, the only way to beat a promotion
was to make it bigger."
Walter Loeb, a New York-based retail consultant, says Penney's new pricing
is "visionary" and revolutionary."
But Charles Grom, a retail analyst at Deutsche Bank, says it will be
difficult for Johnson to change shoppers' buying habits. Macy's, for example
, cut back on coupons a few years ago, only to reverse courses after sales
fell.
NEW YORK (AP) -- J.C. Penney is permanently marking down all of its
merchandise by at least 40 percent so shoppers no longer have to wait for
sales to get bargains.
Penney said Wednesday that it is getting rid of the hundreds of sales it
offers each year in favor of a simpler approach to pricing. Starting on Feb.
1, the retailer is rolling out an "Every Day" pricing strategy with much
fewer sales throughout the year.
The plan, the first major move by Apple executive Ron Johnson since he
became Penney's CEO in November, is different from Wal-Mart's iconic
everyday low pricing. Unlike Wal-Mart, Penney's goal isn't to undercut
competitors, but rather to offer customers more predictable pricing.
"Pricing is actually a pretty simple and straightforward thing," Johnson
told the Associated Press during an interview ahead of the announcement at
the company's Plano, Tex. headquarters. "Customers will not pay literally a
penny more than the true value of the product."
Penney's plan comes as stores are struggling to wean Americans off of the
profit-busting bargains that they have come to expect in the weak economy.
The move is risky, though, because shoppers who love to bargain-hunt may be
turned off by the absence of sales.
"The big question on investors' minds will be: 'How customers will react to
a single price point versus a perceived discount under the old strategy?'"
says Citi Investment Research analyst Deborah L. Weinswig.
Here's how Penney's pricing strategy will work:
— Sale prices become everyday prices. The company will use sales data from
last year to slash prices on all merchandise at least 40 percent or lower
than the previous year's prices. So, a woman's St. John's Bay blouse
regularly priced at $14.99 could have the "Every Day" price of $7.
— Fewer sales. The retailer will pick items to go on sale each month for a
"Month-Long Value." For instance, jewelry and Valentine's Day gifts would go
on sale in February, while Christmas decorations would be discounted in
November. Items that don't sell well would go on clearance during the first
and third Friday of every month when many Americans get paid. Those items
will be tagged "Best Prices," signaling to customers that's the cheapest
price.
— New tags. The retailer used to pile stickers on price tags to indicate
each time an item was marked down. But now each time an item gets a new
price, it gets a new tag too. A red tag indicates an "Every Day" price, a
white tag a "Month-Long Value" and a blue tag a "Best Price."
— Simpler pricing. Penney will use whole figures when pricing items. In
other words, you won't see jeans with a price tag of $19.99, but rather $19
or $20.
— New advertising. Ads began airing Wednesday with a shopper screaming "No"
to discounts as they look in their mailboxes, a pile of coupons and big
sales signs. The company also has a new spokeswoman (talk show host Ellen
DeGeneres) and logo (a red outline of a box that features JCP in the corner.
) And a 96-page catalog will be mailed each month to 14 million customers,
along with other promotional efforts.
The strategy, unveiled at Penney's investor meeting on Wednesday, comes as
the retailer tries to turn around its business. Heavy discounting has hurt
department stores like Penney. The group generates an average of about $200
per square foot, less than half the $550 or $600 stores like Victoria's
Secret and Lululemon make per square foot, according to John Bemis, head of
Jones Lang LaSalle Inc.'s retail leasing team.
But Penney has been a laggard even among department stores as its core
middle-class customers have been among the hardest hit by the weak economy.
It's also failed to attract younger customers even though its added hip
brands like Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen's teen clothing collection called
Olsenboye. The stores also have been by Johnson himself describes as "tired."
For the 11 months through December, Penney's revenue at stores opened at
least a year — an indicator of a retailer's health — rose 0.7 percent,
while competitors like Macy's Inc. rose 5.4 percent, and Kohl's was up 1.1
percent. Penney posted a loss in the third quarter and cut its fourth-
quarter earnings outlook after a disappointing holiday season when it had to
heavily discount to attract consumers.
The new pricing caps months of speculation about what Penney's future might
look like under the leadership of Johnson, a former Target Corp executive
and the mastermind behind the success at Apple Inc.'s stores.
Johnson, who joined the company's board in August, already has put his stamp
on the retailer. He has tapped former colleagues at Apple and Target to
join him at Penney. That includes Target's top marketing executive Michael
Francis to be Penney's president.
Johnson also is borrowing from the playbook of Apple, which shuns
discounting and focuses on selling products and offering services.
In December, Penney said it will have homemaker doyenne Martha Stewart
develop mini-shops starting next year. And during Wednesday's meeting,
Penney executives outlined plans to in the next two years add Main Street, a
series of 80 to 100 brand shops in stores similar to the Martha Stewart
ones. It also plans to open areas in all stores called Town Square, a place
that will offer services and expert advice, similar to Apple's Genius bars.
Perhaps the biggest challenge for Penney is to sell shoppers on its new
pricing. For years, Penney, like many other stores, has propped up price.
The intent: to make it look like shoppers are getting great discounts when
items go on sale.
Penney has been an especially big promoter. Last year, the company, which
offered 590 sales events last year, nearly three-quarters of its revenue
come from merchandise that was discounted by 50 percent or more.
That's more than double the retail industry average. According to an
estimate by management consultant firm A.T. Kearney, a typical retailer
sells between 40 and 45 percent of its inventory at a promotional price, up
from 15 to 20 percent a decade ago.
The increased discounting has been a vicious cycle that only feeds into
shoppers' insatiable appetite for bigger and better discounts. In fact,
whereas it took 38 percent off to get shoppers to buy 10 years ago, it now
takes discounts of 60 percent, Johnson says.
At Penney, the regular price on an item that costs $10 to make rose 43
percent, from $28 in 2002 to $40 in 2011. But because of all of its sales
and other promotions, what it actually ended up selling for rose only 15
cents, from $15.80 to $15.95 during that same period.
"I have been struck by the extraordinary amount of promotional activity,
which to me, didn't feel like it was appropriate for a department store,"
Johnson says. "Once you start to promote, the only way to beat a promotion
was to make it bigger."
Walter Loeb, a New York-based retail consultant, says Penney's new pricing
is "visionary" and revolutionary."
But Charles Grom, a retail analyst at Deutsche Bank, says it will be
difficult for Johnson to change shoppers' buying habits. Macy's, for example
, cut back on coupons a few years ago, only to reverse courses after sales
fell.
