By Fiona Ness on Thu 24 April 2014 in Topical
Debenhams may be the second largest department store in Britain, however their recent profit figures tell a different story.
Whilst one of their main rivals, House of Fraser, reported an increase in operating profit of 8.3%. Debenhams announced a fall in profit of 24.5%. Following this they have announced changes in their promotional strategies, improving their range of brands and at the top of their agenda, revamping online delivery offerings.
This focus on online has come after Debenhams admitted that not only are their rivals more flexible when it comes to online delivery, but they have better developed multi-channel models. For example, John Lewis currently offer free next day click and collect and next day delivery on all orders placed before 7pm. With this in mind, Debenhams have released plans for the addition of next day click and collect and extended next day delivery thresholds to 10pm. Making customers wait up to 4 days for click and collect and ordering before 2pm for next day delivery will soon be a thing of the past!
When reading about their fall in profit, it does not take long to come across a disgruntled customer complaining about their lack of delivery options and flexibility. However, it appears that Debenhams have finally taken notice and are re-focussing online strategies with their customers experience at the centre of their plans.
As a result we should begin to see better known brands, rather than promotion of their high margin, own brand products, and most importantly more convenient and flexible online shopping delivery options.
Let’s hope this new focus helps them turn it around otherwise we may see Debenhams fall from their spot as second largest department store in Britain.