Nordstrom’s customer strategy stresses the important of a superior customer experience.
During the company’s Nov. 13 third-quarter financial results conference call, Blake Nordstrom, President of Nordstrom, focused on the company’s CX strategy as a key point of differentiation toward a goal of brand loyalty.
“For the past several quarters, we’ve communicated that we are focused on a customer strategy which we think is critical to our business in delivering a superior customer experience,” Blake Nordstrom explained in a conference call transcript provided by Seeking Alpha. “This strategy provides clarity as we address allocation of our resources, both capital and people, to serve our customer in the manner they expect from us. This focus has positioned us to engage with the customer across multiple channels in full-price, off-price, stores, and online. Most importantly, we know the customer views us simply as Nordstrom.”
Customers increasingly value speed, convenience, and personalization, Nordstrom explained.
“We’re focused to create synergies across our business through service and experience, product, customer acquisition and retention, and companywide
customer capabilities,” he said.
Among new store openings mentioned by Nordstrom was one in Calgary.
“We also entered Canada in Calgary on Sept. 19,” he said. “We would like to call out the terrific job that our team led by Karen McKibbin, President of our Canada Division, has done leading up to our opening. For the past couple of years, they have been working behind the scenes to address the unique challenges of crossing the border with supply chain, inventory, loyalty, talent, systems, and other material aspects of the business. The warm reception we’ve received from the customers in Calgary is encouraging. We’re also pleased with the stores performance which has significantly exceeded expectations.”
Nordstrom is very excited about the company’s acquisition of Trunk Club, which closed in late August.
“Trunk Club offers a differentiated way in serving customers on their terms to an experience that is personalized, relevant, and convenient,” Nordstrom explained. “This partnership clearly aligns with our strategic priorities to increase relevance with customers and strengthen our capabilities. The business is on track with its growth plans, which include a fifth showroom that will open on Dec. in Manhattan; it will be in a terrific location on 51st and Madison. With New York representing Trunk Club’s largest market, it is a meaningful opportunity to increase engagement with existing customers and serve new customers.”
Nordstrom also addressed the company’s clearance strategy.
“As you know we’ve historically held clearance events, notably our half yearly sales,” he explained. “As we listen to our customers, we acknowledge there is an opportunity to improve. We have begun to make adjustments to our clearance strategy, and we expect that over time these changes will result in a better customer experience, a reduction of clearance days, and an improvement to our inventory turn.”
Nordstrom CFO Mike Koppel added that the company’s results reflect its ongoing commitment to its customer strategy.
“Both the current operating performance and ongoing strategic investments support our goal of delivering a superior customer experience,” Koppel said. “Over the past several years, our investments to enhance the customer experience have fueled growth in stores and online. And now our entry into Canada represents a new channel of growth.”