Good Luck JC Penny

JC Penny has developed a new business plan. No more sales. No more coupons or doorbusters. They are taking it old school. Instead of marking up items 80% to reduce it by 50%, they are going to just standardize the pricing.

I have my doubts.

On Sunday I pulled out all the clothing my husband needed for an upcoming trip to Florida. I noticed that he needed to replace the t-shirts he wears with his swimming trunks. My husband is not  t-shirt guy but for the beach. And since we no longer belong to a beach club where t-shirts need to be of a certain caliber, I chose to replace them with a “good enough look for less” brand. So I looked up online the price of a plain solid cotton men’s t-shirt from Lands End. Lands end t-shirts are $20---all of the time---they are never on sale. And $20 is a fair price for the quality of the wares. And it would suffice for my purpose. No need to spend more than that. But I needed to check out Lord and Taylor first—just in case.

So my husband and I went to Lord and Taylor where the t-shirts at the MSRP well exceeded the Land’s End everyday price. That was before the 30% discount and the automatic 15% I got off for having my black card. When the smoke cleared I was able to purchase Nautica t-shirts for $15. But as much as the savings thrilled me, the bigger thrill was the hunt and the kill. I was euphoric with the knowledge that I had gotten a bargain. I had worked for my savings.   

And that is where JC Penny’s new business plan might fail. Shopping is not just about the price. Shopping appeals to our primal nature—trapping and consuming prey--outsmarting the victim. Shoppers like to feel as though they have outwitted their opponent—that they are receiving a price on an item others may not. Coupons and doorbusters create exclusivity. And knowing that the prices on any given day is the same as any other day is just plain old boring. The adventure is lost. 

So. Good luck JC Penny. I hope you succeed but I am not so sure. People like knowing that the person standing in line behind them will pay more for the same item--just like airline seats. I think a better idea would have been to have created a JC Penny black card. Because permanent discounts are great, but not as great as a permanent discount with exclusivity.