As discussed here, JCPenney now has a color-coded price strategy -- red price tags for everyday pricing, white tags for month-long sales, and blue tags as shown in the photo for clearance.
JCPenney claimed the new everyday prices would be 40% off or even lower than their old retail prices, and judging from the brands I checked, that seemed to be the case. For example, a womn's tank top from St. John's Bay that used to have a retail price of $14 now is priced at $6, and East 5th sweaters that used to be priced at $40 are now $20 each.
The store I visited was still in the process of changing over all its tags, so I was even able to find some examples directly in the store:
Here's a Nine West purse with the old JCPenney tag, priced with a manufacture suggested retail price (MSRP) of $65.
Here's the same Nine West bag in a different color, with the new everyday price of $35 -- so a savings of $30.
The question, of course, is how disciplined a shopper you were at JCPenney prior to the new Fair and Square pricing strategy. If you were able to schedule all of your shopping trips to coincide with a JCPenney coupon and exclusively shopped the sales racks, you likely will find prices to be higher under the new strategy.
For example, Bali bras that used to be priced at $40 now have an everyday price of $22. Sounds like a great deal -- except that the bras would frequently be available for $18 when you stacked a sale and a coupon.
On the other hand, if your household's schedule requires that you shop for clothes and housewares more or less when you need them, the new Fair and Square pricing will likely save you money.
The long-term question is if JCPenney can ultimately lure its customer base away from the coupon and sales cycle that it trained them to use. During my visit, the only busy section of the store was -- you guessed it -- the clearance section. And since JCPenney already told customers that new clearance will be available on the first and third Fridays of the month, the chain may actually find sales increasing only on those weekends.
What do you think of the new JCPenney Fair and Square pricing strategy? Share your thoughts in the comments section below, or join the conversation over on the San Antonio Budget Grocery Facebook page.
Want more freebies and deals? Go back to the front page, follow me on Twitter, or keep up with all the action on Facebook.
Next: Free Lady and the Tramp printable Valentines
I wish every retailer would go back to fair and reasonable prices and end the coupons, loyalty cards and sales. I would like to just go shopping an d pay a fair price for something rather than wait for a special sale and scramble/for coupons. I hope it works and other retailers follow suit.
ReplyDeleteI mainly shop at Kohl's and if they did this I would stop shopping there. I only shop with coupons and sales and save a lot and would not like it any other way. I don't think I would get the same prices.
ReplyDeleteI was one of those disciplined coupon shoppers. I also shopped the sales rack. I could time the sales of regularly prices items. So...shopping this weekend was a shock to my system. Some items were reasonably priced (Eastbay blazer for $35) but others (Worthington tee for $36) I felt were over priced. Time will tell if this pricing scheme works.
ReplyDeleteWe were just able to go platinum on our JC Penney's card (hadn't really tried before) and were looking forward to the $15 off each month which appears to have gone away with the "best sale of the season" that they had every month. We're disappointed. We could save much more before and have found most prices to be higher than we normally paid.
ReplyDeleteI think the bigger problem here is that retailers have let customers become addicted to "doorbusters", "coupons", and the other gimmicks that it takes to get customers to come in and shop. For instance, Kohl's will mark up a shirt to $45 (which no one would pay for that shirt, ever) and then mark it down at "40% off plus an extra 15% off with your Kohls card!"... well thats the same as just putting the shirt at $22...
ReplyDeletecustomers should also realize that when a company gives out millions of "$10 off $10 coupons"... essentially there is going to be huge profit loss in the long run. After all, these companies are in business for one thing: to make money. I think this will play out well when the full jcp transformation is complete
I feel that this new pricing strategy will not bode well for JCP. Since the new pricing strategy has rolled out, it appears that the store employees seem to be "entitled" to treating us customers very poorly.
ReplyDelete"gerry" says that retailers have let customers become addicted to "doorbusters", and "coupons". They had to do that to keep people coming back into their store. The "mega marts" were taking over that piece of the pie.
If we got rid of the "mega marts" (and that would not hurt my feelings one bit) then retailers like JCP could do away with the coupons and discounts. Until then, the American public will continue to be a nation of unwise consumers.
I went into a JC Penney store after this new pricing scheme. I probably won't buy anything from JC Penney, just because I would subconsciously think, "Why pay $24 for a $24 pair of pants, when I could go next door and but a $45 pair of pants on sale for $24?" Even knowing that the quality of clothing is probably the same, in my opinion, this makes JC Penney seem as low-end as K-Mart.
ReplyDeleteI bought 3 dresses on the 2nd Friday of the month. All the dresses had a blue tag, and had good prices. I went back the next day with my daughter, and the blue tags were gone. The same dress I had bought for $36.00 the day before was now priced at $72.00. It seems the pricing is now a moving target. I never before saw an item go from clearance back to full or sale price.
ReplyDelete