Macy's touts its omni-channel progress

By George Anderson

SEPTEMBER 16, 2014

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Macy's, Inc., parent company of Bloomingdale's and Macy's, wants all its stakeholders to know that it's not resting on its digital laurels. In an announcement yesterday, the company outlined a wide variety of initiatives the company's management believes will set it apart from the competition.

"Our goal remains to help our customers shop whenever, wherever and however they prefer, and to use the entire inventory of the company to satisfy demand," said Terry Lundgren, Macy's, Inc. chairman and chief executive officer, in a statement. "We are a multi-faceted retailer with stores, technology, internet capability and mobile access that come together for our customers. They are at the center of all our decisions, and our ongoing research and development will continue to help us understand how to personally engage with them."

Among the advancements Mr. Lundgren and company are touting are:

Macy's participation in Apple Pay: The department store operator said it would launch Apple Pay in October. The goal of the program is to offer a simpler checkout process.

A same-day delivery test pilot: Macy's and Bloomingdale's are both planning to test same-day deliveries with Deliv, a crowdsourced service. Eight markets have been chosen for pilots: Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New Jersey, San Francisco, San Jose, Seattle and Washington, D.C.

The company-wide rollout of buy online, pickup in store: BOPIS is now available in all Macy's and Bloomingdale's locations. The company first began testing the concept in the fall of last year.

In-store technology, including mobile POS devices: Macy's is testing new mobile POS technology in stores in Georgia and New Jersey. According to the retailer's announcement, "These include a new generation of enhanced handheld point-of-sale devices and tablets designed to improve the in-store shopping experience by enabling sales associates to engage customers more effectively, offer merchandise ideas and product information and speed transactions."

Online image search: Macy's Image Search app enables shoppers to submit a photo from anywhere and find similar items on macys.com. The app is currently available for iPhone only.

Own-brand mobile wallets: Macy's and Bloomingdale's have introduced mobile wallets to help customers store and access special offers and coupons. The wallet is said to work seamlessly with the chain's rewards programs regardless of where they are shopping.

An expansion of RFID: The chain's are deepening their commitment to radio frequency identification technology, which Macy's Inc. first began testing in 2011. The company plans to expand the use of the tracking technology to more fashion categories next year.

The deployment of iBeacon technology in concert with shopkick: Macy's will have the largest deployment of Apple's iBeacon technology of any retailer when it rolls out more than 4,000 shopBeacons from shopkick.

Smart fitting room technology: Bloomingdale's has added smart fitting rooms to five of its stores around the country. The technology makes it possible for customers to find other colors and sizes available in items they like as well as obtain product information, product ratings/reviews and recommendations on complementary items. Customers can also press a button to receive assistance without having to leave the fitting room.