Dive Brief:
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For Q4 ending Feb. 1, J.C. Penney’s total sales were $3.78 billion, down 2.6% from last year.
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Web sales were $381 million, a 26.3% increase over last year.
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8% of the retailer’s sales are from e-commerce, a far cry from 10 years ago when it was 15%. For some perspective, in 2010 Macy’s and J.C. Penney had comparable online sales; by 2012 Macy’s sales were three times more than Penney’s.
Dive Insight:
J.C. Penney says it is two-thirds through its restructuring, putting its progress in the best light by leading with its online sales boost. While the company’s strong catalog business naturally segued into online retail, the retailer just didn’t keep it up. It’s too soon to say whether J.C. Penney is out of the woods yet, but everyone is clearly working hard. The day before its earnings report, the company announced an exclusive Black Label line of clothing by Evan-Picone, a style fixture in the 1950s that later also outfitted a fashionable Mary Tyler Moore on her 1970s television show. So, things do turn around sometimes, even after they've been out of it for a while.
