Macy’s Essay Example

Macy’s Essay Example Macy’s Essay Macy’s Essay Macy’s is a wholly-owned indirect subsidiary of Federated Department Stores, Inc.   It is a part of a retail organization, which sells a wide range of merchandise such as apparel and accessories for men, women, and children, home furnishings, cosmetics, and other consumer goods.   The operations of Macy’s are largely affected by pressures from its competitors including department stores, mass merchandisers, specialty stores, and other retailers.   Apart from competitors, Macy’s operations are also affected by the spending levels of general consumer, which are characterized by consumer confidence and employment levels. In the past years, Macy’s, under the governance of Federated Department Stores, Inc., has been focused on four key priorities in order to improve business.   These priorities include simplifying pricing, improving overall shopping experience, differentiating and editing merchandise assortments, and communicating better with customers a more brand focused marketing. The Federated Department Stores, Inc. in which Macy’s is an indirect subsidiary believes that a total marketing strategy will surely improve company success as well as gain advantage over its competitors.   As such, it has implemented the 5 P’s of marketing, which include the 4 P’s (product, promotion, place, and price) and an added P, that is, people.   In terms of product, the company eliminated intermediaries’ costs, which allowed good quality, produced higher margins, and lowered consumer prices.   As to promotion, the national television advertising served as a significant factor for Macy’s.   Through Macy’s standing as a single national brand of Federated Department Stores, Inc., the production costs have been lowered.   Consequently, the cost per exposure of national television is low.   On the other hand, the company makes it a point to strike a balance between national branding and local implementation of its products.   In terms of price, the company offers value for its customers through lower costs for products, administration, store operations, and marketing.   The fifth and final factor for the company’s total marketing strategy is people.   The company believes in well-trained and committed professionals that can offer great value for business and consumers.   Its people encompass passion for fashion, attention to detail, and belief in the power of store display. On the other hand, one of Macy’s largest competitors is JC Penney.   JC Penney also belongs to the retail industry.   It is focused on conducting extensive customer research, measuring marketing productivity, product development and sourcing, developing new training programs for its employees and minimizing operational risks related to communication and information systems. In 2006, JC Penney began making use of an online survey in order to accumulate customer feedback on store shopping experience.   The information obtained is utilized by the company’s stores to enhance efforts on improvements, which will better meet its customers’ needs. JC Penney monitors its external environment as part of its efforts on measuring marketing productivity.   Its external environment includes retail competitors, consumer trends, current economic outlook, and retail industry.   The company makes use of post-event analyses and other measurement tools to understand strategies, strengths and weaknesses, and performance of its competitors. JC Penney has acknowledged that it should be able to maintain its reputation among its constituents in order to achieve its strategies.   The company supports individual responsibility to its customers, investors, regulators, suppliers and the public through training, code of ethics, policies, and mechanisms.   It has maintained that it should focus on its integrity and reputation, which has always been a key aspect in the company’s success. Macy’s and JC Penney both belong in the retail industry.   As such, it is inevitable that competition is situated between the two companies.   Although Macy’s has already established its competitive position, a defense strategy should always be a priority to keep up with the changing strategies of its competitors such as JC Penney.   Company goals should always be able to complement its business strategy, thus, entails several key success factors.   The competition among retail companies is getting stiff.   Macy’s can open its doors to investors as it expands operations in order to meet its strategic objectives.   The company may get additional resources through initial public offering of their shares after which will be directed to a secondary market.   If Macy’s would be able to open to investors and eventually penetrate into a reputable secondary market, it will indicate more opportunities for the company to raise the necessary funds.   Another possible way is the forging of business combination or acquisition of smaller competitors in order to integrate the resources of combined business segments. As to promotion and advertising, Macy’s should provide considerable information for new services and monthly promotions.   The advertising technique to be used by Macy’s should be conventional yet practical and should be preferred by most clients who do not want to waste time going through a lot of links before they finally reach their selections or purposes.   If Macy’s intends to harness the power of the internet in doing business, it should also consider the design of the website as this would serve as the interface between itself and its clients or customers.   Macy’s should ensure that browsing over the website is convenient and components appearing thereon are functional.