Posted on 01/20/2015 12:25:28 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
half-decade after killing off its hefty catalog to focus on the Web, J.C. Penney Co. is bringing it back, armed with data showing that many of its online sales came from shoppers inspired by what they saw in print.
The new, 120-page book will feature items from Penney's home department and will be sent to select customers in March, the first time the struggling department store chain has sent out a catalog since 2010.
The move highlights an oddity of the digital age. While shoppers are increasingly buying everything from shoes to sofas to cars over the Internet, they still like browsing through the decidedly low-tech artifacts of page and ink.
Catalog mailings are down considerably from 2007, when they peaked at 19.6 billion, according to the Direct Marketing Association. But in a sign the decline may have bottomed out, mailings grew in 2013 for the first time in six years to 11.9 billion.
The call to bring back the catalog was made by Chief Executive Myron "Mike" Ullman, who is trying to return the retailer to health after a disastrous overhaul under former Apple Inc. executive Ron Johnson.
It also was Mr. Ullman who decided during his first turn as Penney's chief to stop publishing it....
(Excerpt) Read more at marketwatch.com ...
I quit ordering from them a long time ago. Ordered 3 times and all they sent me were the swimming suits.
I would love to see a catalog. Their online prices are great and fair and the customer service I had on sizing a set of roman shades was beyond terrific. And they had tons of sizes in stock.
They were made by Pioneer, if I remember correctly. They used to carry Halston fashions made especially for JC Penney, too. I bought some for my female relatives back in the day.
Hee hee hee
That’s not it. Look at their sales volume charts.
‘When they went gay, the customers went away’.
There were endless angry threads here on FR when that happened.
JCP can go to hell, they’re reaping what they so diligently sowed.
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