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Why Sears Became The Premier Retailer In The US

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Sears was established in 1886. The company began as a mail-order catalog company and then became an anchoring store in the fast-growing suburban department store. Over a century, Sears was one of the largest and most powerful retailers in the US because at that time the retail industry was fragmented, and Sears provides customers with its products that served for everyone’s need, under one roof. Therefore, Sears became American’s iconic retailer with a well-known tagline of “Where American Shops.” According to the principles of retail marketing strategy, there are a few possible reasons why Sears became the premier and successful retailer in the country. To begin, retail marketing strategy that Sear applied became productive and effective …show more content…

Sears posted a loss of almost $4 billion in 1992 that caused the investors worrying about its durability and credibility of the company. Many customers looked at Sears as old and decayed stores. They also claimed that the company them a negative shopping experience and uncompetitive prices, which were totally unlike its past. Thus, there are several reasons why Sear lost its positioning as the premier retailer in the US. First of all, it is very important that every retailer needs to take a decision of segmentation, targeting and positioning which combine a differentiation factor. The problem was when the company failed to come out with a specific segment of customer as its market target. As a result, Sears struggled with making a decision on product classification, pricing, marketing communication plan, store decoration and other decisions that support its positioning. For example, on one hand, the company tried to squeeze between low-priced big-box stores, trendier, more targeted upscale department and specialty stores on the other. Sears could not fit in both the low-priced discount retail store and upscale department store. Sears has gotten lost in its marketing …show more content…

It sounds like the only thing that Sears is aiming for these days is that everything Sears sell is always on sales, therefore, Sears failed to recover its retail marketing strategies with the changing retail industry. Moving on to the retail price, Sears pricing is not a convincing value proposition. It has a problem with matching the low prices of competitors such as Walmart, Target or Kohl’s. It failed to maintain competitive advantage be it by offering lowest cost or differentiation to the customers. Lastly, Sears has not launched enough and appropriate marketing and branding efforts. While Sears’ costs were relatively high, compared to its competitors like Walmart and Target, its branding campaigns were insufficient. That is another reason why the customers keep questioning about a reason to purchase products from Sears. Overall, Sear has failed to refresh its positioning to make itself relevant in today’s

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