How to Beat the High Price – No Selection Shopping Blues Retail Expert Reveals How Ship-to-Store Options Save Time and Money
Shopping used to be a lot more fun. At least, that’s what Darlene Quinn thinks. A former senior executive with the Bullocks Wilshire department store chain and author of the novel Webs of Power from Emerald Book Company (www.darlenequinn.net), Darlene is a super shopper who knows the retail industry from the inside out and sees the trends before shoppers do.
“In the post-recession, pre-recovery shopping landscape, retailers are cutting costs everywhere they can,” she said. “The stores that survived the mass closings of 2009 now have fewer staff and less selection. Managers have cut down on excess inventory in order to lower operating costs, and they have raised the bar on their every day pricing. With the perpetual sales environment which began in the eighties as department store merchants fought to gain or retain their share of market, they trained consumers not to pay retail prices but to wait for the big sales. In the aftermath of all the high-low pricing, consumers no longer know the value of merchandise. If you can buy something for 70 percent off, what is the real worth?”
However, some large retail stores like Sears and JC Penney, as well as big box retailers like Wal-Mart and Target, introduced a new service last year that actually beats both the pricing and selection dilemmas. Ship-to-store is a feature on many store retail web sites that allows shoppers to make purchases online at lower prices than are available at the store locations, and have them shipped free to the local store of their choice. When the product arrives at their neighborhood store, they are notified and they pick it up.
“With this new feature, the stores offer a vastly superior selection of items compared to what they can afford to stock on their store shelves,” Quinn said. “They also can offer dramatically lower prices online, because web-based sales don’t incur as many costs as the products stores buy and shelve in their brick and mortar store locations.”
For the value shopper—those who are willing to pay a little more for better quality and service there are the Upscale Department Stores such as Macy’s, Nordstrom’s, Bloomingdale’s and Saks. While they are also in the mail order business (on-line and in catalogues), they do not offer the ship to store option, they do offer free shipping for orders over a specific dollar amount, and merchandise can be returned in their store locations, however, Quinn said their focus is different, and not based strictly on price, but rather on quality and service.
“Since the majority of merchandise sold in upscale department stores is purchased to fill the consumers’ wants rather than actual needs, they are dependent upon creating a strong desire, and cater to their patrons who shop with them regularly and use their own credit card of a Visa or Master card that bears the store name,” she added. “In talking with several retail executives about their plans in this economy, it’s become clear that customer service is the top priority across the board with the upscale department store. For example, Nordstrom has reduced expense significantly, but has kept customer service as the number one priority. With 800-plus stores, Macy’s whose number one priority is also customer service has fallen short of their goal. But new programs have been implemented for bringing service back into the individual locations. For example, Bloomingdale’s has initiated an insider’s rewards program. Along with advanced notices of sales, four $25 dollar discount coupons, and at the day patrons are given a gift certificate of $15 for every $100 they have spent during the special insider days. That’s not only an incentive but real customer service.”
About Darlene Quinn
Darlene Quinn is an author and journalist from Long Beach , California . Her novel, Webs of Power (winner of the 2009 Indie National Excellence Award for Fiction), is about the back-room wheelings, dealings and double-dealings behind the scenes of a national retail chain, based primarily on real-life people and companies Quinn encountered during her career in the retail industry. The sequel, Twisted Webs, is set to be released in September.
As part of a nine-member management team for the Bullocks Wilshire Specialty Department stores, Quinn has the insider’s perspective on the rise and fall of major department stores.
To interview Darlene Quinn, or request a review copy of “Webs of Power”, contact Rachel Friedman at (727) 443-7115 ext. 206 or email Rachel@NewsAndExperts.com Please include your name, publication, and mailing address with your request.
Rachel Friedman
Print Campaign Manager
News and Experts
1127 Grove Street · Clearwater, Florida 33755
Phone: 727-443-7115 EXT 206
www.newsandexperts.com
