J.C. Penney recently released a video apologizing for its recent business plan saying, “what matters with mistakes is what we learn. We learned a simple thing: to listen to you.” The brand is shifting from its recent plan of going for younger consumers with bright colors to focusing on muted colors and cozy family settings.
Jeanne Bliss, president of consulting firm CustomerBliss.com says this is an improvement, but JCP needs to go further. “It was brave of them to do. Definitely something that needed to happen,” she said. “But the biggest question is, How are they going to make any changes from their experience to connect the heartfelt plea in the apology to customer experience in the store ”
Ex-CEO Ron Johnson brought his experience from Apple to JCP, moving from coupons and sales to “everyday low pricing”. This fell flat with the JCP consumers and he only lasted 17 months at the department store.
“Ron Johnson’s strategy had good ideas, cool ideas that followed a model that worked well in past based on Apple model,” Bliss said. “But Apple was built from scratch. JCP was a turnaround.”
JCP rehired former CEO Mike Ullman, though the company has not fairing well under his tenure either. While an apology is nice, the company needs to set out resolutely as to what it wants to do with its business model going forward.
Source: News.Investors.com