Earnings also grew significantly and above expectations to $3.24 a share or $1.335 Billion a 6.2% increase over the previous year. The company’s guidance for fiscal 2013 is $3.90 to $3.95 a share. It may be a conservative estimate.
The MOM initiatives have been exciting. The company has introduced many steps in serving the customer better, faster, and with more charm. For more than three years the company has worked on specific localization – “My Macy’s” – which focuses on having each store feature merchandise that is relevant to customers who live and shop in that area. For example, whether it is Latino or Asian customers, the selection of fashion merchandise, as well as the taste level and sizing of the clothing, is often very different from store to store, and requires a trained buying staff. In some cases this localization program requires special advertising and displays, and there is much less of a cookie-cutter approach to buying across the company. The customer has responded enthusiastically to the My Macy’s strategy.
The Omnichannel strategy allows for extraordinary service to customers. In addition to warehouse fulfillment of purchases from in-store, on-line or mail order customers, Macy’s now has 292 stores that participate in the fulfillment of orders – to insure that the customer receives better service as purchases are delivered quicker than ever before. By the end of the year management expects to have about 500 stores participating in this program.
Magic selling is the third key initiative. Through new training tools, associates are taught how to be more engaged with the customers and how to be more empowered so that they can make decisions on the selling floor. It is an important step ensuring more caring and responsive customer service.
In addition, Macy’s is paying attention to the millennial customer – those customers between the ages of 13 and 30 — who too frequently shop in specialty stores because they can not find the right merchandise in the department store. Now, more special brands that target these consumers are being introduced at Macy’s bolstered by Finish Line athletic shoe shops. One shop has already opened and most Macy’s stores will have a Finish Line shop by 2014.
With all the initiatives in place to serve customers quicker, I believe that in the future company inventories will be even better controlled, since fulfillment from any store in the United States will reduce the need for high inventories. It will also add to gross margins since there will be less of a need to take mark-downs until end of a selling season.
I am excited about the growth Macy’s prospects, since I see additional growth through better associate training and greater customer care. In recent years, shopping in a department store has been a scary time-consuming experience leading many people to shop in specialty stores which often offer a faster shopping alternative. However, it is still the department store that can feature new fashions and determine key trends. And that is what makes shopping exciting.
www.forbes.com
No hay comentarios.:
Publicar un comentario