By: Amlan Mukherjee S 7 Arun Kr. Yadav S 16 Joyee Bora S 32 M.A.

Jaffer Ali S 39

History Of Sears
1886: Richard Sears sells watches 1887: Sears settles into Chicago location 1893: Sears officially forms; corporate name is Sears, Roebuck, and Co. 1896: First general catalog 1925: First Sears retail store opens in Chicago 1927: Sears launches the brands Craftsman and Kenmore 1945: Sales exceed $1 billion 1953: Sears opens in Canada Sears Tower 1973: Move national headquarters to Sears Tower 1986: 100th anniversary 1993: Introduces Come see the softer side of Sears advertisements

History Of Sears cont

1999: Introduces The good life at a great price advertisements 2005: Sears Essentials Latina Life Merged with Kmart

Fast Facts:
      

Headquarters: Hoffman Estates, Illinois Employees: Approximately 250,000 Full-line Store Locations: Nearly 900 Sears' 2004 Fortune 500 Ranking: No. 32 Sears' 2010 Fortune 500 Ranking: No. 48 Areas of Operations: United States, Puerto Rico and Canada Serves: More than 48 million active Sears customer households

The Foundation of Sears



Sears' Mission
To grow our business by providing quality products and services at great value when and where our customers want them, and by building positive, lasting relationships with our customers.

Sears' Vision
To be the preferred and most trusted resource for the products and services that enhance home and family life.

Sears' Core Values

We must earn our customers' trust and business every day; act with integrity in everything we do; treat everyone fairly and value diversity; be accountable for our actions; and win as a team.

The Sears Empire:



Retail

Brands
Kenmore Craftsman Diehard

Dealer Stores Full-line Stores Kmart The Great Indoors Sears Grand Sears Essentials Orchard Supply Hardware Lands End

What makes Sears, Sears?



Sears carries many different products:

-Appliances -Clothing -Baby -Electronics and Computers -For the Home -Gifts -Lawn and Garden -Movies, Music, and Games -Sporting Goods -Tools -Toys -Jewelry

What makes Sears, Sears?



Sears offers many great services:

-Optical -Hearing Aid Centers -Automotive Care -Portrait Studio -Gift Cards -Gift Registry -Home Services -Credit -Flowers (online only) -Catalog shopping -Worry-Free Shopping

Competition:


JC Penneys, Kohls, Mervyns (for clothing and home soft lines) Home Depot, Lowes, Target, Wal-Mart

*Note: There isnt really another company that offers everything Sears does, some might offer home wares, or services and others, clothing, but not the combination that Sears does.

Sears Problems


Poor CRM results in customers turning elsewhere Poor Supply Chain Management resulted in miscalculated inventories Big competition taking sales away:
   

Wal-Mart Target Home Depot Lowes

Sears ads..


90s Sears commercial

1993 Sears commercial

Q: What was Sears store image and position? What should it be?

Image & Position:

 

Solid reputation for trustworthiness Its brands, including Kenmore, Craftsman, and DieHard, were known for their quality and affordable prices Women were not particularly enthusiastic about the store's clothing, shoes, and accessories Perceived as an old, reputable company with stores that looked somewhat outdated in comparison to the Home Depots and Wal-Marts that had sprung up to challenge it.

RE - Position: Image Overhauling

 

Target : Women in age bracket 25 to 54 with moderate household income Focus on stylish, affordable, comfortable clothing of good quality that women could wear at work, at home, or at social events Stores interiors to have modernized appeal Stores relocation to shopping malls New campaign should be designed to close the perception gap between what customers expect to find in Sears stores and what they actually have is fashionable and affordable apparel Gradually shift focus to include children and mens apparel, footwear, and service sectors like holiday purchases

  

I came in for a Die Hard - but left with something drop dead

Q2: Criteria to select outlet

Dress Clothes Teenagers Location (happening place) Spacious with trial rooms Display of fashionable clothes TV & Print ads Word of mouth (friends) Brand availability Variety Casual clothes Power Tools Appliances Location Word of Word of (happening mouth mouth place) Print & Print & TV Spacious with TV ads ads trial rooms Latest trend Display of fashionable clothes TV & Print ads Word of mouth (friends) Brand availability Price

Criteria to select outlet

Dress Clothes Retired men Proximity Price Brand availability Casual clothes Proximity Price Power Tools Appliances Prior Prior experience experience Price Price Brand with after sales service. Word of mouth Print & TV ads Latest trend

Middle aged professional men

TV, Print & radio ads Word of mouth Brand availability Easy accessibilty Fast service

TV, Print & Price radio ads TV & Print Word of ads mouth Word of Brand mouth availability Easy accessibilty Fast service

Criteria to select outlet

Dress Clothes Casual clothes Power Tools Price TV & Print ads Word of mouth Appliances Young professional women TV & Print ads Word of mouth Brand availability Easy accessibility Fast service TV & Print ads Word of mouth Easy accessibility Variety Fast service Word of mouth Print & TV ads Latest trend

Criteria to select outlet

Dress Clothes Casual clothes Power Tools Appliances

Old working class women

Proximity Word of mouth TV & print ads Prior experience

Proximity Word of mouth TV & print ads Prior experience

Price TV & Print ads Word of mouth

Word of mouth Print & TV ads Brand

Evaluation of Campaigns

Softerside of sears campaign



Sears was losing billions of dollars a year in the early 1990s but recovered to become one of the top retailers in the nation by 1997. Under the leadership of Arthur C. Martinez, its new chief executive officer, Sears


divested itself of various peripheral businesses updated its stores and merchandise and publicized the changes by releasing one of the largest advertising campaigns in its history: "Come See the Softer Side of Sears."

Softer side of sears campaign

 

1993 - 1999. it offered more than the Kenmore appliances, DieHard car batteries, Craftsman tools, and other "hard" merchandise. The advertising contrasted "softer side" clothing and accessories with the store's "hardline" products. September 1992 to April 1997, the total return to investors from Sears was 300 percent. Competitors J.C. Penney and Wal-Mart returned closer to 75 percent and 10 percent, respectively(Study conducted by Fortune Magazine)

Softer side of sears campaign

   

Middle Income women shoppers to sears soft goods and fashion items. Age 25 to 54 Evolved the tag line Come see many side of sears Arthur Martinez described


We want the campaign to disarm the skeptics and pleasantly surprise our customers and feature the kind of merchandise thats on our sales floor right now.

Softer side of sears campaign



Initial results were encouraging. Sales and profit where much above the industry average for the next three years In addition, apparel sales at Sears tripled over the course of the campaign. But in 1999
   

Depressed earnings Managerial shakeup 1400 employee layoff at its HQs A new Marketing campaign

Softer side of sears campaign



But Sears faced a host of challenges in the late 1990s,

including a younger market with which it failed to connect  competition from upscale department stores, specialty stores, and discounters.


The good life at a great price guaranteed sears campaign

  

Launched in 1999 by offering more trendy brand name clothing Reaching out to younger consumers with concert tours and teenage advisory panel, remodeling its stores and selling merchandise on the internet Cohen said
  

The new campaign continues to target women Emphasize Sears entire product line One stop shopping destination for life style goods

The good life at a great price guaranteed sears campaign



Sears is highlighting the fact that they are able to sell quality merchandise for a price that is affordable to the general public. Furthermore, they are adding some more "vigor" to the slogans by putting in the word "guaranteed. Using that word makes people feel safe, and that if they have a problem, they will be able to get excellent customer service.

2003 Profit Rank of Major Retailers

THANK YOU

Sources:
  

www.sears.com www.seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/131499_sears19.html www.abc.go.com/primetime/xtremehome www.searsarchives.com www.searsamericandream.com www.searsmedia.com