Something that occurred to me the other day. Nordstrom lately has been doing the most advertising in memory, probably ever – but it's all online ads. It sounds crazy, and it would be except that it speaks to the nature of Nordstrom as a special retailer, but the old FLS-centered business essentially had no advertising budget. Sales were known like the seasons, Anniversary to mark the summer, bookended by half-yearly sales to clear out any extra seasonal merch that hadn't been schlepped off to the Rack.
Meanwhile, Macy's with their constant promotions and discounting was taking out TV spots and full-page ads in the dead-trees Sunday paper, custom inserts, lingerie pix, store coupons, mailers, the works. They also ended up training their customers to wait for these sales, while Nordstrom boasted fat margins at full-price.
With the web, now Nordstrom does advertising like it never did before. By doing this they shape the way we see the company and get to know it, especially if you're late-Millennial or a Zoomer. I think that over time, the notion of a purely online store becomes thinkable. Who shops at a store? Who goes to a mall? Who wants to visit the St. John collection?
Are there people down in the inverted pyramid who think this way, who really are not store-centric, maybe even anti-store? Is that possible? Are there factions in management like this? I would bet that the scenario of e-commerce Nordstrom has at least been war-gamed in the C-suite.
Wish I knew more.