Earlier this year, Macy’s launched a restructuring initiative called “A Bold New Chapter,” aimed at reinvigorating the company and driving growth.
The strategy focuses on strengthening the core Macy’s brand through store enhancements, expanded product offerings and cost reductions.
A major theme of Macy’s overarching strategy is elevating the customer experience through a culture shift, which ties back to the company’s “A Bold New Chapter” strategy. The new framework is guiding Macy’s officials on how to reposition the company, enhance the customer experience, deliver profitable growth and unlock shareholder value.
“It is rooted in investments and learnings that we’ve iterated over the past year, but more importantly, it’s a signal to our organization that is driving a major shift in culture,” PJ Singh, vice president of stores strategy and product management at Macy’s, explained in an interview with PYMNTS. “We believe that a more engaged and inspired colleague community is vital before you go external and reach your customer. As a result, we are taking an inside-out approach to delivering customer experience and challenging ourselves on the things our customers have told us are points of friction.”
In February, Macy’s announced the closings of about 150 underperforming stores and geared investments toward high-priority locations and small-format stores. To capture opportunities in the luxury sector, the company accelerated the expansion of its Bloomingdale’s and Bluemercury brands. Concurrently, Macy’s streamlined its operations and enhanced its supply chain, adding tech to improve efficiency.
Singh said Macy’s is reviewing business processes and environments, visual design and merchandising offerings, adding, “this approach to receiving more direct and candid insight from our store leaders is pivotal in how we define our actions to enhance the customer experience.”
Under the “A Bold New Chapter” strategy, Macy’s aims to improve its in-store experience and create a more seamless, omnichannel shopping journey, Singh noted.
“Over the past year, we tested and iterated various tactics in a small number of test stores, called our First 50, and we’re continuing to build on those learnings,” he explained. “The treatments in these stores are guided and modified by teams from across Macy’s and are built on the feedback we hear directly from our store managers. The First 50 stores are a good representation of our nationwide, geographic footprint, and we have seen improved experience results supported by more colleagues on the floor, a more focused and stronger merchandising and visual representation, and more events in-store that are bringing animation and some retail theater to elevate the customer experience.”
Part of the overall strategy, Singh said, is “tied to improvements we’re making in modernizing the shopping environment to ensure an inspiring, enjoyable and convenient experience across all channels. We continue to build our selling culture through a dedicated focus on coaching, more robust training, and setting role-specific behaviors and goals. We measure this through our traffic and conversion performance, improvements to average order value, and NPS.”
What prompted Macy’s to pursue this new strategy and how has the customer experience changed?
“Our customer prompted this pursuit,” Singh said. “They expect more from us in delivering a better experience through all of the channels we serve them through.”
This process involved a thorough review of business practices and store operations to address functional silos, improve decision-making and enhance the store environment. Key areas of focus included optimizing visual merchandising, refining event planning and increasing employee engagement to better serve customers.
“The voice of our store colleagues is amplified in this mission as they are the best ambassadors of the Macy’s brand and have the most direct connection to experiences that matter and friction that, at times, can get in the way,” Singh said. “Our colleagues are the difference makers and operate with a high degree of pride in the Macy’s brand. Our pursuit is to continue to bolster that pride and have it show up more meaningfully for our customers.”
Consumers are becoming more digitally savvy and value the interplay of physical and digital offerings, Singh explained.
“We look at our business through the lens of the customers we serve in markets, not just the channels they use to shop with us,” he said. “The store’s teams are deeply invested in informing and enabling our digital initiatives, and same goes for the understanding that our digital teams have in the decisions that impact our store customer. Our strategy involves modernizing the shopping experience and making it frictionless across all channels.”
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