Macy’s CEO: Web Brings In $1 Billion On Its Own
Written by Evan SchumanMacys.com brings in about $1 billion a year, which isn’t overwhelming for the $25 billion chain. But to have four percent of its global revenue coming from online is a continual surprise for CEO Terry Lundgren, according to a speech he gave Tuesday (September 22). Macys.com generated $30,000 in sales the first year it was launched–1996. As of Tuesday, Macy’s “has invested more than $300 million in online infrastructure” and is tracking online sales increases of 13 percent compared with a year ago. Lundgren said Macy’s internal figures show that “every dollar spent online influences $5.77 spent in the store over the next 10 days.
“I, for one, made zero money before 2000 on the Internet,” Lundgren told about 2,000 people in attendance at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center, according to this Las Vegas Review-Journal story. “I truly did not get it. There wasn’t a business model out there that made sense to me, but there was so much interest, it got my attention.”
September 25th, 2009 at 9:33 pm
What merchants need to include in their spreadsheets and dashboards is that many consumers use a website to see what is available and if it meets their needs. They might then order online, but they might then go to to the local store to purchase.
Considering online as different from or even a competitor of the brick & mortar seems disjointed to me.
Perhaps this is why I am always annoyed that I can’t filter online sites to in-stock and eliminate Online Only options. I want to check something out, see what you have, and then go get it this weekend. I do NOT want to see something interesting only to find out it is an online only item. So I don’t get to see it, and I have to wait for delivery, and I have to put up with the delivery company wanting a signature, so maybe tomorrow, and they didn’t see the signed slip…
My 2¢.
Grins