Who Is Going to Win: E-commerce or Department Stores? Nordstrom, Inc. (JWN) and More

Macy’s has been a hot stock lately. On Feb. 7, the company reported 11% gain in SSS YoY, beating analyst estimates. The company’s online sales made a major contribution to the estimate beat, thanks to the omni-channel approach. The company has also been liked by the investors given its hefty cost-saving program.

Foolish Bottom-Line

However, it is important to keep in mind that certain retail categories have been more impacted than others. It is no surprise that retailers who specialize in areas like media (books, magazines, music, and videos) continue to be among the most impacted due to the high ecommerce penetration in those areas. Going forward, I continue to expect the more highly penetrated areas to experience pressure despite some significant bankruptcies and store closures. Even so, this does not mean less penetrated areas like apparel, accessories, furniture, and appliances won’t also feel the pressure. It simply means that retailers who specialize in those products have been graced with some extra time in which to develop strategies in how to deal with the oncoming growth of ecommerce penetration in their businesses.

The article Who Is Going to Win: E-commerce or Department Stores? originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Masam Abbas.

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