Macy's 1999 Annual Report Download - page 9

7
New growth channels
Until recently, “point of sale” meant a customer service area on the selling floor of a
department store. Today, it means much more.
W hile the vast majority of Federated’s total sales (nearly 90 percent in 1999) are
generated by customers drawn to our “bricks-and-mortar” stores, an increasing share of our
incremental sales growth is being generated through new direct-to-customer channels. Many
of these new channels are supported by our acquisition of Fingerhut Companies Inc., a
leading direct marketer, online retailer and provider of call center and fulfillment services.
Included in Federated’s multi-channel retail arsenal today are more than 28 direct mail
catalog titles sent to more than 100 million American households each year. These include
significant businesses such as Fingerhut, Bloomingdale’s By Mail and Macy’s By Mail, as well
as more targeted catalogs such as Outdoor Living, Arizona Mail Order and Bedford Fair.
Another significant part of extending
our reach to new customers through an
array of retail options – and in many
cases driving incremental traffic to our
stores – involves selling goods and
services online through several wholly
owned e-commerce sites. These include
macys.com, bloomingdales.com and
fingerhut.com, along with a number
of smaller Internet sites such as
andysgarage.com and atomicliving.com.
In addition, Federated owns an
equity position in a number of
Internet companies. One of these is
weddingchannel.com, the Internet’s leading wedding resource.
Through Federated’s partnership with weddingchannel.com, customers can access
bridal gift registries for nearly 350,000 couples who have registered online or at
Federated’s department stores across the country. This fully integrated in-store/ online
registry facilitates gift-giving for a couple’s wedding guests, no matter where they might
live. weddingchannel.com quickly has become a destination website for couples planning
a wedding, through which they can access comprehensive information, tips, checklists and
products and services ranging from traditional wedding dresses to catering.
Generation Y
Appealing to
Generation Y
Federated is building solid rela-
tionships with today’s “Generation Y,”
those less-than-20-somethings who
within the next decade or so will
overtake the baby boom generation
in sheer size and number. So how
are we reaching them? We are:
• revamping junior’s and young men’s
environments within our department
stores, increasing the emphasis on
both fun and fashion with music,
foodservice, visual excitement
and the integration of apparel
assortments with other
categories appealing
to young customers;
• reorganizing the
presentation of store
assortments to emphasize
hot items and trends –
cargo pants, denim and
khaki, for instance.
Capitalizing on the hottest
new fashion brands
directed to teens is also
part of this strategy;
• building exciting
new e-commerce sites
tailored to this young
demographic, while driving GenY
business to our “ bricks-and-mortar”
locations through Internet advertising
and promotions on our department
store websites;
• launching a new Green Dog line of
tots-to-teens apparel and accessories
that will debut nationally just in time
for back-to-school shopping this fall.
Junior’s departments are taking on a new look to appeal to “ Generation Y” customers.