J.C. Penney has been aggressive about its turnaround efforts over the last year, introducing a fast fashion line to compete with H&M and Zara, hiring new executives to help boost its omnichannel offering and saving $100 from ramped up sustainability initiatives, among other things.
Now the company’s still-new CEO Marvin Ellison says the retailer is on track to bring in $1.2 billion in earnings by 2017.
At a “Redefining Retail” conference this week, Ellison shared his vision for a more seamless Penney’s shopping experience, stronger private label brands and more revenue per customer, according to Chain Store Age.
“We believe that (our) turnaround will be driven by three things,” Chain Store Age reported Ellison as saying. “We have to make sure that we have a great omnichannel experience for customers, ensure that our private brands are something that create key points of differentiation, and we have to monetize every engagement with the customer so that when he or she comes in we offer them something that gives them the ability to solve a problem, serve a need and excite them to come back the next day.”
Ellison went on to tout the company’s strengths, like its Sephora and Disney shop in shops and celebrity partnerships, but didn’t hesitate to highlight areas for improvement, like e-commerce, supply chain and data processing.
In August, Penney’s hired former Home Depot (which Internet Retailer named Internet Retailer of the Year for 2014) omnichannel executive Michael Amend to be its EVP of omnichannel and former Target global supply chain executive Mike Robbins as its new SVP of supply chain to fill some of those voids Ellison feels the retailer has.
As he was taking the helm this summer, Ellison said the key focus for Penney’s would be sustainable shareholder value.
“We have to find a way to have sustainable growth in a way that we can start to get a return to the shareholders that is less, what I would call, disruptive and more sustainable,” he said.