Jcpenney.Com Research

I chose to research the website of the department store JCPenney, which has a very strong web presence and an efficient web site.

1) Overview:-

a) A few of JCPenney's major competitors are Kohls, Sears, Wal-Mart, Target, Marshall Fields, Carson Pirie Scott, etc. They all follow the Reactive and Partial cyber-marketing business model, which means that they are present physically and they also have an online presence. 'Partial cyber marketing is a reactive response of existing companies who have done business through the physical distribution channels.' (text, pg 44) Even though these stores have an electronic presence, their main business is generated through physical stores.

The market segment at which the products/services are aimed are the demographic and also psychosocial market. The targeted customers are "Modern Spenders" and "Starting Outs", who shop for apparel, accessories, and home furnishings; people from day to day lives, needing items like clothes, (which can be for men, women and children); furniture, shoes, house wares, etc. These are people who are willing to shop at either physical stores where JCPenney is located or thorough catalogs or also through the convenience of the Internet. By focusing on the age, gender, etc. the company can cater or better focus on age, for e.g. the company can make more choices available for the children in terms of clothes, Gender - the company can invest in some more products which attract people who need items for either a man -, young or old, a woman - young or old, a child- infant or toddler girl or boy, and so on. These are just a couple of examples of how demographic market segmentation can help a company. On the other hand, by focusing on the psychosocial segmentation, a company can get an idea of the kind of day to day customers it receives. The customers can be from any walk of life - they can either hold a very high status in society, or in the middle, or not high at all. Different people prefer different kinds of items. So psychosocial segmentation can help companies decide a customer's lifestyle, personality and social class based on the customers' shopping habits.

b) A typical structure of the supply chain is upstream activities, which include material and service inputs from suppliers; internal activities involving the manufacturing and packaging of goods and downstream activities involving the distribution and sale of product to distributors and customers. (text, pg 201)

The basic structure of JCPenney's supply chain can be written as: -

I. The Upstream activity - Wherein different suppliers and manufacturers bring their goods and commodities and pass on to the main supplier for JCPenney. Also, boxes from the paperboard company and labels from the label company are sent.

II. The Internal activity - Where the goods and items are first inspected, then either approved or rejected and then sent for assembly and packaging.

III. The Downstream activity- Where the approved and packaged items are sent to the distributors and who in turn send the items as needed to the physical stores plus the online outlets and through it, go to the final customer.

c) Buyers play an upper hand in the overall buying; because if no buyers, then no shops and no sales for big or small vendors and suppliers. In an electronic market, buyers play a major role because of the choices and competitions available over the net. With the internet, customers have the privilege of visiting all the major competitors by just a click of the button. It is not needed for them to go store to store searching for choices and deals. Buyers also have another added advantage - online auction sites, (like e-bay for instance, for the case in question - JCPenney). Buyers can not only get choices, but can also bid for the same and get a particular item at a price that is comfortable to their wallet. Therefore, companies are to an extent dependent on the buyer in an electronic market.

2) Industry and Competitive Analysis:-

a) Here is a SWOT analysis based on the firm's present website as compared to its competitors-

Strengths: - Some of the strengths of JCPenney's online store are - the company's website, JCPenney.com is very customer friendly. The access to information is very quick and to the point. The home page is very welcoming and is successful in rendering the customer curious and more interested. Icons are all placed at a comfortable level; the customer does not have to wander a lot in search of products/services. JCPenney in addition has a very good brand recognition and loyal customer base.

Threats: - Web users these days are very vary of credit card fraud and theft going on over the Internet. People pose as sellers of a particular product, lure the customer into buying it, and then ask for their credit card number and other personal information like their home phone number, their social security number, address and so on. Later on, they use this information to their benefit by purchasing items for their own use. The person whose identity has been just stolen is then held responsible for the payment. This way, the thieves get what they want and escape from paying even a penny. This has become a big threat to all businesses operating over the net. Companies need to keep checking and updating their online theft-blocking, spam blocking software and assure customers about the same time and time again in order for people to visit their website and make purchases.

J. C. Penney Co. Inc., Plano, Texas, announced today that its Web site, jcpenney.com, has reached a milestone: $1 billion in annual sales, as of Jan. 13. Jcpenney.com was launched in 1994; since then, it has experienced rapid growth, realizing sales gains of 30 percent to 50 percent per year. "The multi-channel approach is a powerful model that has driven strong growth for the online business and opened the door to many new ways of reaching and serving our customers," said John Irvin, president of JCPenney Direct, in a statement. "We provide easy and seamless shopping with our combination of stores, printed catalogs and jcpenney.com. Customers recognize the convenience and breadth of merchandise available through all of these channels and the trusted quality and value of the JCPenney name."

http://www.ddimagazine.com/displayanddesignideas/headlines/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001880680

b) Technology changes every moment of the day. Even as I