Thread regarding Sears layoffs

Web orders may be "up" but it will not save the stores

This season's consumer behavior is demonstrating that, to an extent, consumers are willing to shop online at both formats (Sears and Kmart). However, consumers are demonstrating that they still prefer not to shop in the stores, which is a problem. Many other retailers see satisfactory performance in-store and online, while it is sounding like Sears and Kmart's only saving grace is online, which does not bode well for the stores and may not bode well for the company overall as both sources of sales need to be strong.

Just because web orders are "up" does not mean that Sears and Kmart are "out of the woods", so to speak. It is not a solid reason to keep the stores around as the stores still need to demonstrate an appreciable amount of foot traffic, in-store sales and most importantly, profitability. There is no reason to staff a retail store if the only thing that is keeping it open are online order fulfillments. Otherwise, it just makes more sense to get rid of the stores and convert to an online-only presence, and that is if Sears Holdings does not liquidate.

One other thing to be aware of: Sears and Kmart may be experiencing an uptick in online orders principally for the rewards promotion (i.e., get $250 back in points if you spend $250, $600 back in points if you spend $600+, etc.). If Sears Holdings does not uphold their end of the bargain by issuing the rewards points as advertised, it will cause irrevocable harm in the sense that they will alienate and virtually lose their entire customer base for good. Their public perception would be permanently damned, and that is something Sears literally cannot afford to risk.

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| 854 views | | 5 replies (last November 24, 2018) | Reply
Post ID: @OP+WiWG14m

5 replies (most recent on top)

People in the stores only feel they have more web orders than the previous year because there are less stores now to be able to fill the same amount or even less orders than Sears had last year.

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Post ID: @lfh+WiWG14m

I just returned from a six-hour Black Friday mall tour at a large, busy and successful mall in Central Ohio. Took my niece shopping as a birthday gift, we were there from 3pm-9pm or so. Mall was packed to the gills, even that late on Black Friday. Parked outside of Macy's and had to cut through the store to get to the mall (we returned to Macy's later in the day), the place was PACKED and navigating through the store was a pain in the arse, frankly, as there were many people packed in, shopping. Bath and Body Works? Crazy. Twelve or more registers, all with long (but fast-moving) lines. Individual stores like Hollister, Pink, etc. all bustling. JCPenney? Not so much. Not a huge crowd, but moderately populated with shoppers. Sears? I had to cut through Sears to get outside for a little smoke break - it was like a ghost town. I saw maybe 15 or so people during my first-floor cut through, it was an absolute ghost town compared with the rest of the mall. I feel like the writing is on the wall for Sears, this will probably be the last Black Friday we see with a physical Sears involved. I read that the CEO had chosen to not invest in store upkeep and modernization, and it shows. Who wants to shop there, even online? The idea of doing so is depressing somehow, sorry to say. Wishing good things for the current employees, I hope they can emerge from this relatively unscathed. As for KMart? You couldn't pay me to visit one of those stores, haven't been in decades. Target is it for me, they seem to carry higher-quality merch at reasonable prices and Target is actually a fun place to shop!

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Post ID: @hht+WiWG14m

"Even if Kmart and Sears were to go FULLY into an online store they would be woefully under-prepared"

Especially with so much of their current order fulfillment being handled by the stores (local and non-local).

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Post ID: @qmx+WiWG14m

Nobody is willingly shopping at Sears/Kmart except those using reward points or old people too stupid to go elsewhere.

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Post ID: @arj+WiWG14m

Even if Kmart and Sears were to go FULLY into an online store they would be woefully under-prepared and outmatched by Amazon and Walmart alone. There is really nothing they can do at this point, NOTHING.

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Post ID: @auz+WiWG14m

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