Neiman Marcus 2004 Annual Report Download - page 7

We believe that the following factors benefit well-positioned luxury retailers:
attractive demographic trends, including increasing wealth concentration and an aging baby boomer population;
growing consumer demand for prestige brands and exclusive products;
retail consumption patterns of affluent consumers that are generally less influenced by economic cycles than middle- or lower-income
consumers;
higher price points and limited distribution of luxury merchandise, which have generally protected high-end specialty retailing from the growth
of discounters and mass merchandisers;
aggressive marketing by luxury brands; and
consumer trends towards aspirational lifestyles.
Customer Service and Marketing
We are committed to providing our customers with a premier shopping experience through our relationship-based customer service model, with superior
merchandise selection and elegant store settings of our stores. Critical elements to our customer service approach are:
knowledgeable, professional and well-trained sales associates;
marketing programs designed to promote customer awareness of our offerings of the latest fashion trends;
loyalty programs designed to cultivate long-term relationships with our customers; and
facilitating the extension of credit to our customers through our proprietary credit card program.
Sales Associates. We seek to maintain a sales force of knowledgeable, professional and well-trained sales associates to deliver personal attention and
service to our customers through our relationship-based customer service model. We compensate our sales associates primarily on a commission basis and
provide them with training in the areas of customer service, selling skills and product knowledge. Our sales associates participate in active clienteling
programs designed to maintain contact with our customers between store visits and to ensure that our customers are aware of the latest merchandise offerings
and fashion trends that we present in our stores. We empower our sales associates to act as personal shoppers and in many cases, as the personal style advisor
to our customers. We actively monitor and analyze the service levels in our stores in order to maximize sales associate productivity and store profitability.
Marketing Programs. We conduct a wide variety of marketing programs to support our sales associates in the communication of fashion trends to our
customers in order to create fashion excitement and enhance our customer relationships. The programs include both in-store events and targeted, brand-
consistent print media communications.
We maintain an active calendar of in-store events to promote our sales efforts. The activities include in-store visits and trunk shows by leading designers
featuring the newest fashions from the designer, in-store promotions of the merchandise of selected designers or merchandise categories, often through events
conducted in connection with our loyalty programs, and participation in charitable functions in each of our markets. Past trunk shows and in-store promotions
at our Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman stores have featured designers such as Chanel, Giorgio Armani and Oscar de la Renta.
Through our print media programs, we mail various publications to our customers communicating upcoming in-store events, new merchandise offerings
and fashion trends. In connection with these
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