By Doug Stephens
Amid the sounds of tearing gift wrap and popping champagne corks, ailing giant Sears Holdings Corp. announced over the holidays its intent to close as many as 120 stores.  This of course, came as little surprise to the industry that has witnessed the slow motion train wreck that Sears has become over the last several years.  The company has desperately been throwing a variety of ideas against the wall in the hope that something sticks.  So, far nothing has.
Yesterday Bloomberg news quoted Sears Chief Executive Officer Lou D’Ambrosio as saying that a combination of more technology and physical store improvements would help to put the retailer back on track and that Sears has to get better at delivering what its customers want across multiple platforms.  Mr. D’Ambrosio by the way, came to Sear’s by way of companies like Avaya and IBM, so he’s clearly no lightweight in discussions around technology.
Few would argue with the idea that Sears lags technologically or that its stores are dingy and dilapidated.  Even fewer would dispute the truth that Sears has to execute across multiple channels to be successful – that’s just table-stakes in today’s industry.
When tactics are mistaken for strategy
The problem I have with Lou D’Ambrosio’s thinking is that I believe Sears real problems are far more fundamental and critical. Â In fact, I would argue that both the lagging technology and shoddy store conditions at Sears stores are symptoms of a far more deadly syndrome and one that goes to the very root of the company. Â In my opinion what’s killing Sears is a complete and utter lack of clear and forward-looking vision. Â No one has created a cogently articulated picture of what the Sears of the future looks like. Â No one has made a promise to consumers about delivering something remarkable or uniquely valuable.
It’s a classic example of a business mistaking tactics for strategy. Â Last year the “strategy” was licensing store space to Sear’s vendors. Â This year it’s renovations and technology. Â Who knows what will it be next week, month or year. Â Certainly not the store staffer responsible for representing the brand to the consumer. Â And therein lies the problem. Â Sears has lost all sense of brand essence and purpose.
The one and only question
Frankly, there’s  only one question that the leadership at Sears needs to answer.  “What can Sears offer the world that the world can’t get somewhere else?”  The answer to that one question becomes the cornerstone for the entire strategy going forward. It becomes the prime occupation of every Sears employee – from Mr. D’Ambrosio down.  The answer to that question is all that matters.
If the answer is “nothing”, then there’s no technology or store renovation plan on earth that will save Sears.
Tags: retail marketing, retail trends, Sears, strategy, Technology
Really like your perspective, and one must wonder what will be the effect in Canada. With Target entering our market in just over 1 year, Sears will most certainly need to wow consumers. Can they do this in such short period not whiststanding the current state of their stores, systems, lack of consumer attraction. This is a big giant, has it become too big, complacent to enable change…next several months will certainly reveal its direction…
I agree Yves, it’s going to take a very radical re-invention to Save Sears and personally, I wouldn’t bet on it happening.
I like the perspective too. They need a strategy for both formats (Kmart and Sears) and execute. It appears that they just mismanage such a great brand and it is upsetting. I remember shopping there and actually working for the company in the 90′s as a sales person. The place was packed with customers though even then you can see trouble brewing. I wish them luck and I am sad to see all the bad news.
I agree with Mr. Stephens that Sears has lost its sense of brand essence and purpose. During the Christmas season they advertised their appliance lines for which Sear was know. However, with the advent of Lowes and Home Depot they have lost their identity as the appliance place.
I wonder if they would improve their bottom line if they got back to their roots and put smaller stores in small towns.
It is true that Sears has lost its sense of brand essence, but how about their strategy? They lack in that deptartment! I went into Sears about 2 weeks ago and the in-store format did not scream anything interesting, new or innovative to me. This made me feel they had no strategy and rather just recieved merchandise and did not strategically place it in the store in order to drive sales, they just dump product. This created unclear departments and a feeling that nothing is new. Their format is old (just like their catalogue!). Customers want organised and easy shopping. Yes, technology is good for most retailers, however I do not believe this is their biggest problem. As mentioned I believe their lack of strategy is, instead of looking for outside resources to create a strategy (renting out space), bring it inwards (into the store and driven into the associates). When this is done customers will know their purpose of shopping in Sears; they will know why they are there. That is what Sears needs to establish in order to keep pace with (or hopefully ahead) of their competition.