Kohl’s Corporation (NYSE:KSS) has planned to launch the much talked about toaster in the latter half of the Thanksgiving Day.
Market Survey
As the Wall Street Journal’s article highlights, the company had been working on the plan since last year. Kohl’s Corporation (NYSE:KSS)’s workers had kept themselves busy with a survey of competitors’ advertisements and print circulars. The department-store chain had conducted a thorough analysis of its rivals’ products and prices to estimate product popularity and customer demands.
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In this context, the company’s general merchandise manager, Ron Ota, commented that the survey helped them understand that customers were holding back due to the expensive pricing of kitchen appliances. This motivated Kohl to beat competitor’s average prices of around $10 and ultimately came up with a more attractive offer.
Competition Among Retailers
Kohl’s Corporation (NYSE:KSS)’s introduction of the $5 toaster highlights the importance of surging sales on Black Friday for retailers. The company has spent an entire year to make sure it comes up with an offer that is unbeatable by competitors. The effort marks the company’s endeavor to increase customer footfall and cater to their needs. Moreover, the “door-buster” sale product highlights retailers’ inclination towards alternative methods of launching products that fit customer needs.
Ota highlighted that the traditional approach to manufacturing a product requires that first the designing and creation of the product is done. The pricing of the product is the second step. However, in this case, the company followed a reverse approach that began with deciding the price of the product.
Despite the hype around Thanksgiving Day among retailers, the following day is seen as a mere commercial whirl. The day post Thanksgiving Day is considered to be marred by buyer’s rush and is tagged superfluous on the Web. Even after all the fuss and disorder around it, the day still instigates a tough competition among retailers for luring customers and increasing market share.
