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Back to School: How one NY retailer is approaching the business season

In this fourth installment of the 10-part Back-to-School series the focus is on a NY clothing retailer undertaking new strategies to boost loyalty and revamp its perceived brand.

July 23, 2015 by Judy Mottl — Editor, RetailCustomerExperience.com & DigitalSignageToday.com

A 1,000-store retail clothing company based in New York is in the full swing of back-to-school sales and is taking a few new paths to spur customer traffic and is aiming at more than one consumer segment.

Justice, based in Albany, is loading shelves with new products, slicing price tags and hopes to get both parents and students lining up at the register on a steady, repeat basis through specific marketing messages.

The clothing retailer, which focuses primarily on the ‘tween’ shopper, is following customer feedback regarding its clothing line and revamping its marketing to pull away from being tagged as a special occasion store to everyday apparel and clothing shop, according to a report at Columbia Business First.

As Retail Customer Experience has noted in its 10-part series, the back-to-school sales season is a unique opportunity that can boost a retailer’s bottom line and that market trend reports reveal how new forms of payment, such as mobile shopping, is prompting retail strategy changes to ensure customers’ experience in the store, on a website and via a smartphone is robust.

In the first part of the 10-part series, several experts noted that getting a head start and adjusting to new trends, as Justice is doing, can play a critical role in a successful back-to-school season despite market predictions that sales will be less this year than last year.

Justice CEO Brian Lynch told Columbia Business First that the revamp of new products is "the fun part." Those products include everyday wear such as leggings and everyday accessories including backpacks.

According to the report Lynch is striving to reverse a 4 percent sales decline from last year. Justice, owned by the Ascena Retail Group, also owns Lane Bryant and is finalizing its acquisition of the Loft and Ann Taylor brands.

About Judy Mottl

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Judy Mottl is editor of Retail Customer Experience and Digital Signage Today. She has decades of experience as a reporter, writer and editor covering technology and business for top media including AOL, InformationWeek, InternetNews and Food Truck Operator.

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