![]() ![]() Penney has to show its efforts can gain traction. Penney is also wading into the holiday season without a chief merchant, having eliminated that role only last month. But it still has to contend with how unpopular much of its merchandise is, notably women’s apparel, its biggest single category. Penney is opening stores on Thanksgiving a full three hours before its immediate rivals, showing how desperate it is to win sales, even at some risk to its profit margins. ![]() ![]() Penney recently reported a decent third quarter for sales. The struggling department store chain’s turnaround is hanging by a thread, but J.C. While the expectation is for a 12th quarter of sales declines, Black Friday weekend will be many shoppers’ first real interaction with Macy’s as it reinvents itself, and will show whether recent green shoots are anything sustainable. Macy’sĪs Fortune details in its current issue, Macy’s is in the midst of its first holiday season under new CEO Jeff Gennette’s turnaround plan, which includes tidier stores that focus more on special products and less on ubiquitous sales signage, as well as a newly relaunched loyalty program that lavishes goodies like free shipping on top vendors. So Target has been betting on aggressive pricing to go toe-to-toe with Walmart and Amazon, but at the same time is showcasing its popular house brands like Cat & Jack and Pillowfort, young brands that have taken off in a big way. And it’s a smaller part of Target’s overall revenues, meaning it doesn’t generate shopper traffic as reliably. Unlike Walmart, Target’s grocery business is still struggling to find its way. Now the discount chain has to show it can keep its momentum as everyone from Amazon to smaller rivals raise their e-commerce and store game. Walmart’s shares are at all-time highs (as are Amazon’s) as a result. Visits to Walmart stores have risen for 13 straight quarters as a result of simply making them look better and improving areas like store pick-up of online orders. But Walmart is also making clear it will wage a price war as warranted. Walmart, the behemoth now playing a unfamiliar role of underdog to Amazon despite its enormous size, has been making enormous strides in its e-commerce this year. Let’s have a look at what some of the biggest traditional retailers have to prove this weekend. They’ve gotten better and managing inventory so as to find the middle ground between not overloading store floors with stuff, but having enough on hand not to lose a sale, whether online or in-store. In the last few months, the big chains have worked to improve how stores and e-commerce interact so they can leverage their physical properties against (AMZN). Penney (JCP) and Macy’s have already occurred. Nonetheless, large-scale closings by chains like J.C. ![]() To be fair, there have been so many bankruptcies and store closings this year, that there is a ton of pressure on many chains from rivals still conducting clearance sales. In other words, it’s on retailers if they blow it this Christmas period. Indeed, the National Retail Federation is forecasting that retail sales in November and December should rise between 3.6% and 4% this year. While the weekend doesn’t always reflect how the rest of the holiday shopping season will turn out, it gives everyone a first gauge on where shoppers are going and what is working for retailers.ĭuring the most recent corporate earnings season, countless retail CEOs invoked a “tough retail environment.” But in reality, the big chains have rarely had this much wind at their backs: unemployment is low, wages are finally inching up, consumer confidence is high, as is the stock market. This is many retailers’ chance to show that their investments in e-commerce, store improvements and better merchandise in the last year are enough to keep them thriving. On Friday alone, some 115 million people will go Black Friday shopping. 27, as many as 164 million Americans will hit stores or shop online, according to data from the National Retail Federation. Over this Black Friday weekend, which really kicks off on Thanksgiving and concludes on Cyber Monday, Nov. It’s one for which they’ve been planning for almost 12 months, and one that will show who has learned their lessons from retail’s current earthquake-and who hasn’t. Big chains, from Walmart (WMT) and Macy’s (M) to Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) and Gap Inc (GPS), are ready to face their biggest test of the year: Black Friday. ![]()
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