JCP Q1 - 2011 Sales

I know you don't want to hear this.

Give this article a read --- Penney improves sales and profit in Q1 - 2011.  Here's a few points for you to consider.

1. Penney will pull $30,000,000 of catalog marketing out of the ecosystem in 2011.
2. Compared with Q1-2011, JCP total sales increased 0.4%.
3. Compared with Q1-2011, JCP comp store sales increased 3.4%.  Comps increased, and yet, the big book strategy was killed. 
4. This means that online + telephone demand had to decrease a bit.

No catalog, and sales increased, debunking the myth that you must have paper in the mail to drive retail sales.

Also note the tasty tidbit about how expenses increased because of free shipping to online customers.

Your future --- catalog circulation reductions will be used to fund online free shipping.  The trick, of course, will be to figure out how to drive traffic to a website without as much catalog marketing.  Retailers do have an advantage, here, a big advantage.

J.C. Penney 3rd Quarter Results

Earlier in the week, J.C. Penney reported 3rd quarter results. In addition to a comp store sales increase of 5.2%, the retailer reported an increase in their direct channel of 5%, driven by a 27% increase in online sales. Guess what must have happened to catalog/phone sales?

Also interesting was a comment that JCP enjoyed September sales increases because Macy's increased advertising. Management had this to say about Macy's: "We think they're obviously going through some difficulties with their integration, but we want them them to be healthy." Management noted that Penney's benefits when Macy's draws people to malls.

Never has it been more important to thoroughly understand how products, channels, brands and competitors all interact with each other.