Kohls CEO talks Amazon partnership, turning business into ‘lifestyle concept’
Michelle Gass prides strong partnerships as 'hallmark' of company
Kohl's CEO: On a mission to evolve and transform customer experience
Michelle Gass explains what's behind the retailers turnaround on 'The Claman Countdown'
Retail giant Kohl's has been on a roll in the markets after a blowout earnings report and CEO Michelle Gass tagged the company’s success on its lifestyle approach on "The Claman Countdown."
Kohl's partnerships with major brands like Sephora, Lego and others have increased foot traffic in stores which Gass explained drives relevancy and widens the department store's demographic.
"We’ve been on a mission to really evolve and… transform the customer experience," she said. "Take everything that’s been great about Kohl's for years – we have phenomenal private brands like Sonoma, Croft & Barrow and the like – but also to bring more relevancy with new brands and new partnerships."
SEPHORA IS OPENING INSIDE OVER 70 KOHL'S LOCATIONS THIS MONTH
Gass mentioned Kohl's partnership with Amazon which has allowed customers to make returns and exchanges in-store, furthermore driving those relevancy and traffic factors.
"Partnerships, I think, is a hallmark of a company and innovation as well," she said. "So we are in this major drive to, as I said, transform our business into much more of a lifestyle concept."
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According to Gass, Kohl's is investing largely in active brands, as well as other differentiating names to detach from its "semi-department store" stigma.
The Kohl's-Amazon fusion has been beneficial for both companies, Gass explained, with Amazon’s large customer outreach and Kohl's stores being in close proximity to a wide majority of Americans being a perfect balance.
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"It’s brought us traffic, it’s brought us new and younger customers," she said. "Those customers are converting and buying Kohl's product, in fact, convergent is up year-on-year. So we feel really good about the partnership and I think they would say the same thing and together we have world-class customer engagement scores. So it’s working."
Kohl's newest partnership with Sephora launching Friday will debut more than 70 stores with access to the beauty retailer, with a goal of bumping the number up to 800 stores by the end of the year.
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Kohl's hit record second-quarter earnings per share and revenue as the stock was up nearly 7% on Thursday.
