Neiman Marcus’ CEO on adapting to new consumer habits
It has been a big year for the luxury department store chain Neiman Marcus.
The Dallas-based retailer announced earlier this year that they are building their first Neiman Marcus store in Manhattan, with doors set to open in 2018, joining Bergdorf Goodman the company’s only New York City outlet to date. They also launched a shopping app earlier this week called “Slyce,” which lets users take pictures of any item they want to buy, and suggests something similar available at Neiman Marcus – the latest in a long line of technological experiments Neiman Marcus Group CEO, Karen Katz, has brought to the company.
Katz describes the company’s customers: “She is very deliberate in how she is spending her money. There has to be a real value… pre-recession, I like to say, she was shopping with abandonment. She wasn’t looking at prices. If she liked something, she bought two of them… I think the world has changed post-recession. We’re much more in tune with how she wants to think about things.”
You can hear the full conversation on the Oct. 30 episode of Marketplace with Kai Ryssdal, or listen using the audio player at the top of the page. Here are some excepts from their conversation:
Impact of digital interaction: 24 percent of business at Neiman Marcus is now done online, and 70 percent of customers go to the website to research by category before going into the store.
On the risks of working in retail: Katz says, “That’s somewhat the thrill of the business.”
The Neiman Marcus Christmas Catalog item at the top of Kai’s wishlist? That would be the 100th anniversary Neiman Marcus limited edition Maserati Ghibli S Q4.
An earlier version of this story misspelled “Neiman Marcus.” The text has been corrected.
There’s a lot happening in the world. Through it all, Marketplace is here for you.
You rely on Marketplace to break down the world’s events and tell you how it affects you in a fact-based, approachable way. We rely on your financial support to keep making that possible.
Your donation today powers the independent journalism that you rely on. For just $5/month, you can help sustain Marketplace so we can keep reporting on the things that matter to you.
