A Resurgent Sears?
Published on 1 Aug 2005 at 12:25 am |
No Comments |
Trackback
Filed under Brain Trust, Winners and Losers.
Sears was synonymous with catalog retailing and virtually owned the rural retail market in America. In 1993, after many false starts they blew it completely when they discontinued their catalog just in time for the World Wide Web (already in existence at that time) to breathe new life into the market that they abandoned. Now Kmart has purchased this American institution in an effort to compete with Wal-Mart. It seems to me that Sears actually has a great opportunity to come back in a big way.
Merely being a "me too" in the online retailing world won’t do the job though. Historically Sears did some things that no one is doing now.
1. They maintained a string of "catalog outlet stores" in small towns across the country. These stores served as a distribution system for large objects, a network of service centers, and a show room for selected (usually high dollar) products.
2. They offered nearly everything at one time or another, including items that are no longer available mail order from anyone, and they had built a brand which reassured people about purchasing unusual and high cost items, even houses.
3. Their big book catalog contained a truly amazing range and selection of products with published prices. These products included items which were not necessarily trendy, but which were genuinely in line with the changing day to day needs and wants of their customer base.
Can Sears come back? I think so. The brand isn’t completely shot, and if they were to begin living up to it again it could very well come back. The reputation of Craftsman hand tools has never lost its luster… I think they need to use modern technology, air freight, the internet, customer polling data, etc. to rebuild that catalog outlet network and couple it with a database driven online version of the big book which would put even its original to shame. How to compete with Wal-Mart? Don’t, just go around them and get back to the roots of your business and your brand.
-- John| Computer Recyclers |
|---|
| Pre-Owned Macintosh Computers, Parts, & Service |
|
Clearance iMac G4s & G5s 10% off on all PPC imacs in stock during February. |
