Year-End Review: Retail’s Top Success Stories Of 2018
Last week, the RTP editors identified the bad and the ugly of retail in 2018, highlighting key instances where retailers and others fumbled the ball. But as the year concludes and the holiday season spreads plenty of cheer, the team wanted to end on an appropriately high note by sharing retail’s positive stories — especially given that 2018 was considered a bounce-back for the industry. What did you think were the best retail decisions of 2018? Let us know in the comments below.
Debbie Hauss, Editor-in-Chief: I am going to take the same route I did with the “bad news” Q&A from last week and share a personal story that I think should be a lesson-learned for all retailers. We adopted a puppy in July and I quickly started ordering food, snacks, toys, etc. via Chewy.com. I found the ordering easy and the prices right. Additionally, my packages always arrive within a few days. Overall, a very good customer experience. Then I had a return challenge. I bought a few items that just didn’t work, so I looked on the Chewy.com site for return directions. Turns out I had to call customer service to discuss the issue, which I first was put off by. But after a very brief chat with the customer service rep, I was granted a full refund and I didn’t actually have to return the items. The rep told me I could keep them or donate them at my discretion. Now that is good service — and smart business. It probably would have cost the company money to process the return and attempt to resell the items; and it would have annoyed me. They now have a more loyal, long-term customer.
Adam Blair, Executive Editor: My vote for the most positive move by retailers this year: the decisions made by DICK’s Sporting Goods, REI, L.L. Bean, Walmart and Kroger to limit rifle and gun sales in the wake of the Parkland, Fla. massacre on Feb. 14. These retailers’ actions were particularly admirable given that they risked both backlash and boycotts from the NRA and gun enthusiasts. For DICK’S at least, the financial impact was negligible: net income and sales rose in the quarter following the announcement, according to Forbes, though the retailer has continued to struggle against the headwinds facing the sporting goods category. In fact, it’s the NRA that seems to be in financial trouble, according to USA Today, although it’s often hard to know how much of the association’s cries of pain are actually fundraising tactics. I wish the retailers’ actions had stopped the dozens of shootings that took place since Parkland, but at least they took a step in the right direction.
Glenn Taylor, Senior Editor: While they’re not entirely out of the woods yet, the turnaround of experienced by major department stores, including Macy’s, Kohl’s, Nordstrom and Dillard’s, has been impressive. I’ve noticed the change, particularly after writing about the poor performance of department stores in the two years prior. All four of these retailers saw Q3 comparable store sales increase at least 2.3%, with Macy’s leading the way at 3.3%. While these numbers don’t exactly pop the way a 9.5% increase at Costco does for its most recent quarter, the numbers are a significant turnaround from Q1 2017, when all four saw comparable sales declines (Macy’s posted a then-alarming 4.6% dip). It appears these retailers have gone a long way to adjust experiences that fit all channels, whether it’s Kohl’s growing its partnership with Amazon to include product returns in stores; Macy’s partnering with experiential brands like Story and b8ta; or Nordstrom acquiring conversational commerce and digital selling startups. These efforts, as well as many others, give these companies their own differentiation points, as well as a fighting chance against the continued growth of competing retail players across channels.
Bryan Wassel, Associate Editor: The most positive move for me was Nike’s embrace of former NFL player Colin Kaepernick in its late-summer ad campaign. Like the limit on rifle sales, the move was risky, but it paid off even more clearly: the retailer first reported a 31% e-Commerce sales bump between Sept. 2 and Sept. 4, followed by a report of 61% more merchandise being sold out further into the month. This showed that Nike knows its audience (young, more socially liberal shoppers), and that the company wasn’t afraid to take a chance on a stand that appeals to them. This sort of moral commitment is more important than ever in a retail space where shoppers have an endless array of competitors to choose from: whether it’s closing on Thanksgiving or committing to an ethical, transparent supply chain, retailers that are willing to stand for things they believe in will be rewarded with greater loyalty — provided they are sincere about it.