That’s right folks – another one bites the dust.
Originally started in 1778 by William Clark, then going on to open more shops and re-naming itself Debenhams (because William Debenham became a partner) has entered administration.
This is for sure the end of the high street, big department stores….
People are just not buying from them!
I think the above says everything.
So why is this happening, Bal?
Simple – the answer is Digital.
Customers are buying more and more on-line. In recent blogs, I shared how Amazon have the ‘try before you buy’ option on clothes.
There’s also more smaller and independent clothing stores that are opening with a huge on-line social media following – that encourages people to buy and then take photo’s and share their latest purchase with the world.
Unfortunately – Debenhams have not been able to keep up with trends.
Now, don’t get me wrong – they sure do have a customer base – but not big enough to keep it going – and they are definitely not attracting new customers!
Whilst they did the whole on-line experience, mobile applications etc… they just didn’t get the right attraction.
Anyone can go build a website. Anyone can design a mobile app. Anyone can sell clothes. But it’s how you configure these three elements to give the customer a unique experience.
Is it also – most of Debenhams customers are older and therefore, maybe the app isn’t the right thing for them? Maybe building the app – they hoped for a younger audience?
Unfortunately (for Debenhams) we’re moving to more personalisation and individualisation.