The missed lesson from JC Penney’s failed strategy

JC Penney is on a slow recovery after a disastrous 17 months trying to eliminate promotions, introducing upscale merchandise, and making the stores a little fancier. Consider this quote on a blog from a couple of years ago when the JCP changes were going live. This quote was from Candice J, a shopper at JC Penney. She brought out a simple observation that a lot of pundits have failed to understand: “I don’t know how I feel about this, being an avid JCPenny shopper. In theory this sounds great, but how it will actually play out is a whole other thing. …Some of their sales were staples to me. The Back to School Sale, MY FAVORITE!… I don’t have the luxury anymore to just go out and wander aimlessly to see if the prices are worthwhile. I need to know before i start packing up my daughter and step foot out my house that its worth my time and money.” From this, and several other shopper views, its obvious that the strategy failed not because it was wrong, but because it wasn’t backed up by the right supporting processes. So what are the insights here? 1. It’s simply that customers needed to be given the right external reinforcement. The heavy promotions that were eliminated had always provided the impetus and guidance for folks to come in. Any shopper worth their salt knows benchmark prices, and what constitutes a good deal. But now they just weren’t sure about the right deal both because of the changing merchandise, and lack […]