Nordstrom: No good deeds go unpunished

Nordstrom–not only one of my favorite places to shop but also a brand I regularly feature in my keynotes on remarkable retail–recently reported strong quarterly operating performance and raised its outlook. So, naturally the stock promptly got whacked–and continues to be caught up in the market downdraft. To be sure, a non-recurring $72MM charge related to credit card billing errors does not inspire confidence. But unless this unexpected earnings hit suggests some underlying management issue it indicates nothing about the go-forward health of the business which, from where I sit, looks rather healthy.

It IS a confusing time for shares of most retailers. I’m not talking about JC Penney, Sears or legions of others hopelessly stuck in the boring middle. I’m referring to companies that are not only competitively well positioned but have also recently reported solid sales and earnings. Despite a strong consumer outlook, everyone from Amazon to Walmart to Macy’s to Home Depot to Target seems to be falling out of favor. Some of this is surely part of the broader market correction and lingering tariff concerns. But much of it is more than a bit mystifying.

In Nordstrom’s case, I remain bullish. The company is showing signs of maturity and is hardly immune from the competitive pressures brought on by industry over-building and digital disruption. Barring a wholly new and unexpected major growth initiative, the accessible luxury retailer has few new locations to open and already has a very well developed e-commerce and off-price business. Yet they seem to be executing well on most of my 8 Essentials of Remarkable Retail and that bodes well for the future. Let’s take a closer look.

1. Digitally-enabled. For more than a decade Nordstrom has not only been building out best-in-class e-commerce capabilities (online sales now account for 30% of total company revenues!), but architecting its customer experience to reflect that the majority of physical stores sales start in a digital channel. Nordstrom complements its already excellent in-store customer service by arming many sales associated with tablets or other mobile devices.
2. Human-centered. Being “customer-centric” sounds good, but most efforts fall short largely because brands do not actually incorporate empathetic design-thinking into just about everything they do. Nordstrom, like their neighbors up the street, are much closer to customer-obsessed than virtually all of their competition.
3. Harmonized. This is my reframe of the over-used term “omni-channel.” But unlike the way many retailers have approached all things omni, it’s not about being everywhere, it’s showing up remarkably where it matters. And it’s realizing that customers don’t care about channels and it’s all just commerce. The key is to execute a one brand, many channels strategy where discordant notes in the customer experience are rooted out and the major areas of experiential delight are amplified. Nordstrom scores well on all key dimensions here–and has for some time. Nordstrom was a first mover in deploying buy online pick-up in store (BOPIS) and continues to elevate its capabilities by dedicating (and expanding) in-store service desks, among other points of seamless integration.
4. Personal. With a newly improved loyalty program, private label credit card business and high e-commerce penetration, Nordstrom has a massive amount of customer data to make everything it does more intensely customer relevant. Its targeted marketing efforts are good and getting better and it has identified implementing “personalization at scale” as a strategic priority. Fine-tuning its one-to-one marketing efforts, introducing more customized products and experiences and further leveraging its personal shopping program represent additional upside opportunities.
5. Mobile. Recognizing that a smart device is an increasingly common (and important) companion in most customers’s shopping journeys, Nordstrom has been building out its capabilities, including acquiring two leading edge tech companies earlier this year. Its increasingly sophisticated and useful app has helped earn the brand a top ratingin 2018 Gartner L2’s Digital IQ rankings.
6. Connected. While there are opportunities to participate more actively in the sharing economy, Nordstrom’s overall social game is strong, earning it the leading US department store rating from BrandWatch.
7. Memorable. While its department store brethren are swimming in a sea of sameness, Nordstrom excels on delivering unique and relevant customer service and product. It continues to strengthen its merchandise game by offering a well-curated range of price points across multiple formats. This offering is increasingly differentiated–either because the brands are exclusive to Nordstrom or are in limited distribution. Nordstrom’s plan to up the penetration of “preferred”, “emerging” and “owned” brands strengthens the brand’s uniqueness and should provide improved margin opportunities.
8. Radical. Nordstrom is not quite Amazon-like in its commitment to a culture of experimentation and willingness to fail forward, but they have placed some pretty big equity bets in fast-growing brands like HauteLook, Bonobos and Trunk Club (whoops), in addition to being one of the first traditional retailers to launch an innovation lab (since absorbed back into the company). They are constantly trying new things online and in-store. Most interesting are their new Local concepts Unlike some competitors who are trying smaller format stores mostly by editing out products and/or whole categories, Local is a completely re-conceptualized format emphasizing services and convenience. These stores have the potential to be materially additive to market share on a trade-area by trade-area basis.

As mentioned at the outset, Nordstrom is a comparatively mature brand with limited major growth pathways. But to view the company from the lens that is weighing on most “traditional” retailers does not appreciate the degree to which the company has outstanding real estate (~95% of full-line stores are in “A” malls), one of the few materially profitable and superbly-integrated digital businesses, strong customer loyalty and important differentiators in customer service and merchandise offerings. Moreover, most of its out-sized capital investments (including expansion into Canada and NYC) will soon be behind it.

Nordstrom will never have the upside that Amazon (or even TJX) has. But it is one of the best positioned, well-executed retailers on the planet. I don’t expect that to change any time soon.

Maybe it’s time for a little bit more respect?

A version of this story appeared at Forbes, where I am a retail contributor. You can check out more of my posts and follow me here.

I’m honored to have been named one of the top 5 retail voices on LinkedIn. Thanks to all of you that continue to follow and share my work.

Originally published at stevenpdennis.com on November 26, 2018.