Nordstrom How to Succeed by Selling Just One Shoe free essay sample

When going into the store they want to make sure that you are treated with â€Å"love† and respect. They refer to their business strategy as â€Å"greed through love†. â€Å"They have perfected the art of focusing on the right customers and giving them undivided attention. A salesperson will often continue the relationship with a customer for years. † Nordstrom’s salespeople treat you in a way that makes you feel important. They want you to feel as if you are their only customer, and their most important customers. As times have hanged, more consumers have gone toward self-service and Nordstrom’s hasn’t been afraid to go in that same direction. They now offer online shopping, as well as thru mail order catalogs. â€Å"The company now aims for a â€Å"seamless† shopping experience across all sales channels, whether mail order, online or in-store. † By making everything seamless they can continue to meet the high expectations that are set forth by the consumer that shop at Nordstrom’s. We will write a custom essay sample on Nordstrom: How to Succeed by Selling Just One Shoe or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page A store that would fall at the opposite end of the continuum would be a factory outlet, or an off-price retailer, such as a Bob’s Discount Furniture, a TJ Maxx, or a Marshall’s.These stores sell items that couldn’t be sold off in regular stores, whether it be due to bankruptcy, cancelled orders, or defects. They aren’t known for the high quality merchandise or the high customer service level’s that Nordstrom is known for. Unlike Nordstrom’s, which allows you to return any item that you purchase, these stores generally operate with a â€Å"final sale policy† – once you purchase an item, it cannot be returned, regardless of the reason you may want to return it. 3. Analyze the six components of Nordstrom’s retailing mix to determine which have been the most important to the company’s success.Provide a detailed rationale. There are six components to the retailing mix – product, place, promotion, pricing, presentation and personnel. Nordstrom’s effectively uses each one of these components to contribute to its success. First, is product, which is the width and depth of the product assortment. This is the number of items displayed, and the quality of the items that are sold. By separating each item into different departments, Nordstrom’s is able to display the quality of its product in the best possible way. Second is place, the locations of the stores, and the hours in which the stores are open.This is where selective distribution comes into play. â€Å"Nordstrom has 157 stores in 27 states, but they plan to open 19 more by 2010, expanding into Boston, Ohio, and other untapped U. S. markets. † By limiting where Nordstrom’s are located, this allows them to maintain a superior product image, and charge a premium price for the products. The third component is promotion – the advertising, publicity and public relations. Nordstrom’s doesn’t rely on promotions as much as they do â€Å"word-of-mouth. † â€Å"This kind of word-of-mouth publicity means that Nordstrom spends much less on traditional advertising than its competitors do.And the stories told by satisfied customers are much more persuasive than an ad in the Sunday Paper. † One of the stories that are told in the article is of the customer service rep who sold the woman with one leg one shoe. Not only did the store gain a life-long customer from that experience, but that story may have driven in countless patrons to shop at Nordstrom’s after hearing this woman’s experience. A satisfied customer will on average tell 2 to 3 people about their experience. Those 2 to 3 people could generate 2 to 3 sales for the sales person, and those 2 people could each tell 2 people. Word-of-mouth can become very lucrative for the original sales person. The fourth component is price. With Nordstrom’s, this goes hand in hand with promotion. They sell their items at full price, believing that the price and quality of the items should speak for themselves. People should not go into the store expecting to get a great deal on an item, but more so to get a quality item. â€Å"We don’t rely on promotions, be it one-day sales, coupons, or ‘friends of friends’ sales. We think our regular pricing has to have integrity. † Nordstrom’s believes that people will treat themselves to a higher quality item, even if the price is higher.The fifth part of the marketing mix is presentation. This is the layout and the atmosphere of the location. Nordstrom’s has a â€Å"high-class† feel to their shops. They keep the merchandise in neat, uncluttered arrangements, making it easy for consumers to browse the products, and to find what they want. The knowledgeable, friendly salespeople also add to the atmosphere. The sixth and final part of the marketing mix is the personnel. It incorporates the customer services and personal selling aspects. This is the most important factor of the mix for Nordstrom’s. The salespeople are willing to go above and beyond for their customers.For example, the article tells a story of a salesperson who paid for a taxi to the airport with her own money so a customer who left their plane tickets in the store would not miss their flight. This is not something you’d expect from a store, and it is what put Nordstrom’s ahead of the pack in the customer service or personnel department. Patrick McCarthy, who was the first salesperson to generate $1 million in sales, is a great example of this. He kept handwritten notes on all of his 12,000 customers over the years. â€Å"Most companies are head experiences – bean counters are running them.When the heart is running them, it becomes exciting. † By putting their heart into their selling, the salespeople at Nordstrom’s are able to go above and beyond, creating a one-of-a-kind shopping experience for their customers. 4. Discuss the primary challenges Nordstrom faces in the current retail climate. One of the primary challenges that Nordstrom faces is changing with the times. People are changing how they want and need to shop. People no longer always need to go into the stores to do their shopping. Many consumers are now turning to online shopping.Stores are open 24/7 on the internet, something your average department store can’t do. Nordstrom’s direct President Jamie Nordstrom noticed that not all items a customer could purchase in the store were available online. This limited possible sales opportunities to the stores. Nordstrom’s needed to change not only where the items were available, but also how a customer could obtain the item. Jamie Nordstrom also noticed that if a customer purchased an item online, they were not able to return the item to the store. The inability to return to the item to the store challenged their generous return policy.This return policy is something that Nordstrom’s is known for. â€Å"Nordstrom is also known for its generous exchange policy. In a familiar story that has been forwarded around the internet for years, a man claims he was allowed to return snow tires, even though the store never sold auto parts. [†¦] Even though the company loses some money on returns, they believe it’s worth keeping customers coming back. † By adjusting their return policy, now allowing customers who purchase online to return items to the store, they are able to keep this standard and overcome a possible challenge. 5. Discuss how the competition has changed in recent years, along with consumer expectations. Competition and customer’s expectations have changed a lot in recent years. Full-service is not expected as much anymore because consumers have moved more toward self-service. Consumers are used to helping themselves with limited or no-help from sales people. This has driven competition from numerous on-line only retailers, such as Amazon. com. Consumers can also use online shopping to compare prices of different retailers to see where they are getting the best quality and the best price. Consumers do expect to find the same quality items in the retail stores as they do on the online sites. If a store is not nearby, but there is an item they wish to purchase, the customer needs the ability to order this item online. They also except that they will get the same high quality item shipped to them that they would get if they walked into a retail location and purchased the item. By expanding what they sell, and where they sell, Nordstrom’s can continue to profit and grow in the coming years. ? Gladin, S. (2003, January 01). How customer service works.