Regular shoppers are looking forward to bringing the J.C. Penney sales back. Almost exactly a year ago, the retail giant tried a bold business strategy where the discounts, coupons, and sales were replaced by “everyday lower prices.” This strategy did not work as intended, and now they’re bringing the J.C. Penney sales back.
The company intends to move away from the marketing phrase “month-long value” because J.C. Penney discovered their customers did not really understood that as being, in actuality, a sale. Customers were used to seeing around 600 sales per year spread among their various departments, and the new way of doing business was just too confusing. Without this clear distinction, many customers chose to abandon J.C. Penney.
J.C. Penney CEO Ron Johnson, who took over the helm of the company in late 2011 and is the man behind many of the sweeping updates to the department store chain, told the Associated Press the reasons for bringing the J.C. Penney sales back:
“Our sales have gone backward a little more than we expected, but that doesn’t change the vision or the strategy. We made changes and we learned an incredible amount. That is what’s informing our tactics as we go forward.”
J.C. Penney is expected to report its fourth consecutive quarter of big sales drops and profit losses in the coming month. After losing more than half of its value, Penney stock is trading at around $18 and the company’s credit ratings are in junk status.
USA Today reports that J.C. Penney’s first sale of 2013 will be for Valentine’s Day. In addition, the retailer plans on marking its merchandise with the real prices of competitors in order to let customers know the value they are receiving.
Now that they are bringing the J.C. Penney sales back, will you change your shopping habits?
