问答题
Go to the mall these days and it's hard not to feel
as if you're being messed with, which is why J. C. Penney's recent not-going-to-
take-it-anymore ad rings true. You may have seen it. consumer upon consumer
screaming "No!" as coupons flood out of a mailbox, crowds mass before dawn for a
Black Friday-esque sale and store windows are stocked with items that are now
62% off. Too bad you bought them at full price, sucker. The ad
is staged and exaggerated, but the frustrations are real. To be a shopper—and
not walk away screaming—is to come to grips with the reality that unless you are
using shopbots and taking on bargain hunting as a full-time job, as some have,
you are almost never going to get the lowest price. So when Penney's newly
appointed CEO, Ron Johnson, declared in mid-January that most of the original
prices in his store have long been "fake" and inflated, the only surprising
thing was that he had the guts to admit it. More surprising. Johnson said he was
going to make changes. Instead of facing infinite discounts and
promotions—there were 590 different "sales" at Penney alone in 2011—the
department store's shoppers will now see just three price categories. One will
represent discounted seasonal items that change monthly. Another is clearance
merchandise marked down on the first and third Fridays of each month. But the
majority of goods will be offered every day at 40% or 50% less than the prices
Penney used to charge. In retail parlance that's called EDLP, as in "everyday
low price". It's a radical shift for a promotional department store like Penney.
The "fair and square" makeover also includes a new logo, store upgrades and
in-store boutiques that will feature fewer brands. The big
discount chains Walmart and Target have long staked out EDLP, but mostly we live
in a promotional, markdown world. And all those Sunday circulars, flash deals
and holiday sales events—which seemed more intense than ever last year—have
turned shopping into retail combat. According to the management-consulting firm
A.T. Kearney, more than 40% of the items we bought last year were on sale.
That's up from 10% in 1990. Penney has been a notorious discounter, with nearly
three-quarters of revenue coming from goods sold at 50% or more off list
price—whatever that is—and less than 1% from fullprice merchandise.
If anyone is equipped to transform Penney, it's the new CEO. Johnson
joined the retailer in November, arriving from Apple, where for the past decade
he presided over the computer company's huge retail success. Apple loves price
maintenance and loathes heavy discounting and sales gimmicks. Johnson believes
Penney's customers will appreciate pricing clarity, not to mention sleeping in.
"I don't think customers like having to come to a store between 8 and 10 a.m. on
a Sunday in order to get the best price on swimwear," he said.
But iPads are not underwear or makeup. "My intuition is that, in the long run,
the changes won't be effective," says Kit Yarrow, consumer psychologist and
author of Gen BuY: How Tweens, Teens and Twenty-Somethings Are
Revolutionizing Retail. "A discount gives shoppers the incentive to buy
today. Without that, there's no sense of urgency for people to purchase things
that, frankly, they probably don't need." Today's consumers
respond well to transparency, though, and to businesses that admit their
mistakes. The success of the Domino's "We Were Wrong" campaign is Exhibit A. So
Penney's disavowal of marketing games should build customer trust. At least
initially, the slashing of all list prices should also boost sales. But what
happens when the novelty wears off and nothing seems special about everyday
prices? By then, Johnson hopes, J. C. Penney will be a place that shoppers love
because they like the merchandise and atmosphere, and they won't fret about
doing better elsewhere.
问答题
What does the author mean by saying "the only surprising thing was that he had the guts to admit it" (para. 2)?
【正确答案】All department stores use sales gimmicks to attract customers' attention. And many people have the experience of waiting outside stores in hope of getting some real bargains but ending up feeling frustrated because they didn't get the lowest price. It's no secret nowadays that department stores inflate the original prices and then boost sales by offering discounts. So it's no surprise when Ron Johnson revealed the unspoken rule to the public. Instead, it's his courage to admit it that surprises people.
问答题
Paraphrase the underlined part in the sentence "The big discount chains Walmart and Target have long staked out EDLP, {{U}}but mostly we live in a promotional, markdown world"{{/U}} (para. 4).
【正确答案】Compared with the disproportionately small number of stores that stake out EDLP, most stores still attract customers by means of coupons, discounts, promotions, flash deals, holiday sales, etc. Original prices are usually inflated and almost no one can get the lowest price in spite of various sales gimmicks.
问答题
Why does the author think Johnson is the most suitable person for the task of transforming Penney?
【正确答案】The author believes Johnson to be the most suitable because he comes from a corporate culture that appreciates price maintenance and hates discounting and sales gimmicks. For the past ten years, Johnson led Apple to huge retail success and he had accumulated plenty of experience in the retail sector.