While many retailers are content with having their customers shop online for what they need, Macy’s says it’s happy to see its customers coming back to its brick-and-mortar locations as the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic continue to subside, particularly in the U.S. and most non-Asian geographies.
The company reported lower-than-expected digital sales for the first quarter of 2022. Executives were buoyed by their highest level of active customers in four years — 44.4 million people — a number that includes 29.1 million Star Rewards members, said Chairman and CEO Jeff Gennette in the earnings call.
“The first quarter presented a unique combination of challenges along with a highly dynamic environment,” Gennette told investors and analysts in the quarterly call Thursday (May 26). “We stayed focused on the customer — what and where they wanted to shop.”
An increase in occasion-based sales led to increased foot traffic, particularly in Macy’s stores, he said. Bloomingdales, meanwhile, exceeded the company’s expectations both in stores and online, with 4 million shoppers in the quarter, up 21%, finding “an evolved product assortment” worked at targeting young shoppers.
Active customers on Macy’s app were up 14% to 7.4 million people, while the Own Your Style focus on trend merchandising encouraged shoppers to shop for “looks” rather than individual items, and the company opened its 300th Backstage store and plans to open more than three dozen more of them. All of those data points reflect Macy’s increasing omnichannel strategy, said Gennette.
“It’s clear that our customers were changing how they shopped and we were ready,” he said. “We’re building a seamless experience that accommodates changes in customer shopping preferences.”
As for how they’ll pay for their purchases, CFO Adrian Mitchell said he expects an increasing reliance on credit cards as shoppers have less discretionary income immediately available during increased inflation.
Related: Macy’s Adds More Backstage Stores as Bargain Hunting Business Booms
Macy’s expects the 37 new Backstage store-in-store sites to be completed by the end of June, including in its New York and Chicago flagship stores.
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