News Feature | August 1, 2013

JC Penney's Back-To-School Strategy Paying Off Early

Source: Retail Solutions Online
Sam Lewis

By Sam Lewis

Struggling retailer is making an aggressive push to reverse declining sales

The back-to-school shopping bug has bit American shoppers earlier this year than ever, and returning chief executive Mike Ullman is looking to turn around JC Penney’s (JCP) declining sales during the back-to-school season — the retail industry’s second busiest period, behind the holidays. Early numbers show that JCP’s aggressive comeback may just be paying off.

Research firm Experian Marketing Services shows that JCP’s website, JCPenney.com, has been ranked number two — trailing only Wal-Mart — since July 13th for back-to-school shopping traffic. According to the data collected by Experian, the top five back-to-school shopping sites, in ascending order of unique visits are Office Max, Office Depot, Macy’s, JC Penney, and Wal-Mart. JCP didn’t even land in the top 10 for back-to-school web traffic in the same survey last year. Experian credits JCP’s increased web traffic to starting its paid-search campaign earlier this year as the trend among consumers is to find deals online and early.

Some credit also can be given to JCP’s “Back-to-school. Back-to-JC Penney” sales pitch along with big discounts on many items. For instance, the retailer’s private label, Arizona, is offering colored, skinny jeans for young teens for $17.99, down from $24. Ullman seems to be on the right track to set his ship, steered off course by his predecessor, Ron Johnson, back on course. By offering discounts to back-to-school shoppers early and aligning online inventory with what is available in stores, Ullman believes he has set up JCP for success.

It remains to be seen if the high online traffic numbers for JCP will transform into actual purchases, and if discounted items come at the expense of profit, but JCP can take comfort knowing people are returning to them. The final back-to-school sales numbers will be a good factor to judge if the retailer has returned as a major player or if the road ahead is still long and winding.