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Nordstrom Rack is the off-price division of fashion specialty retailer Nordstrom. The first Rack opened in the basement of Nordstroms downtown Seattle flagship store in 1973 and has been an important part of the Nordstrom brand for over 40 years. Nordstrom rack was created as a clearance vehicle for our full-line sores. Today, Nordstrom Rack continue to serve as that function as a clearance center for the full-line stores they also attracts new customers to these same brands. We can offer the same brand for the customers at 30-70% off. Nordstrom rack is an off-price retailer. This is a store that offers an assortment of brand name merchandise at relatively low prices. Price is one of the four Ps of the marketing mix. The lower price point is a key ingredient of off-price retailers competitive strategy, but what makes Nordstrom Rack so successful is that it provides its customers with such a good value great product and a great price.

Product is also an important part of the marketing mix, customer is drawn to the rack because they trust that it will be stocked with high quality merchandise from well-known designers, such as Kate spade, Trina Turk, Vince Camuto and Hugo Boss. At Nordstrom we carry some of the very best brand at Nordstrom rack we carry we try to carry all the same brands, we carry at the full-line stores. In fact, 48 of the top 50 brands that sell Nordstrom sell Nordstrom Rack. We are the first call for clearance from our full price supplier.as we go forward we can assure the customers that they are getting the same product that they get in the full-line stores. This combination of product and price creates what the Rack calls the treasure hunt.

In essence, its the search for product you want at a price you love. In the off-price business, we dont have full selections of everything that a customer would want when they go buy things at full-price. We have whats leftover. Shopping at off-price can be a far more urgent experience than others. We dont have the depth of sizes. Things that are here today are gone tomorrow. And customers know inherently in that shopping environment that if they dont buy it today, they are likely to miss out on it. So they come into the store, they pull down their baseball cap and they start to dig, and they leave with cartloads of merchandise they didnt know they had to have when they walked in. Nordstrom place is a third component of the marketing mix Nordstrom Rack is a growing business, with 194 stores by the end of 2015, and a goal to have 300 stores by 2020. Nordstrom opens Rack stores where customers are already shopping, and looks for locations that are convenient and accessible. We like to put ourselves next to grocery store or gym. Because those are the places that people go every week. And so we believe that if we are in the path of the customers regular life, we are going to get more visits. You know, Nordstrom Rack welcomes the competition from all comers, essentially. We would much rather be at the best center with the best competition than be isolated by ourselves separate of all the competition.

In the 21^st century, place now means cyberspace, as well as physical location. The rack launched nordstromrack.com in May 2014. All merchandise purchased online is returnable at any Rack store within a 90-days widow. In 2014, this drove nearly 1 million trips to rack stores. At Nordstrom Rack, our goal is to be the best off-price retailer. And that mean we want to be where the customer wants us to be. So we are looking at our online business at rack.com, we are looking at our mobile business through our mobile apps, and we are looking at what happen in stores so essentially a customer can reach a Nordstrom rack offer 24-7 on virtually any device they want to. The final element of the marketing Mix is promotion. In addition to reaching out to its customers with a strong social presence, like Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, twitter. Nordstrom rack has a flash sale called HauteLook.

In 2011, Nordstrom purchased a company called HauteLook. HauteLook was a leader in the flash space. We saw flash as an exciting way to bring merchandise to customers in a new and different way. Its a 48- hours format, where customer would sign up for an alert at 8 oclock in the morning; they are all given the opportunity to buy things for a limited time. We saw it as an explosive opportunity to add more excitement into the treasure hunt. Because Rack understands that speed and convenience is important to customers when shopping, the sites are designed so that customers can shop both sites through a single log-in, have a shared shopping cart, and be processes with one, easy checkout. Nordstrom Rack has improved serve to its customer with a real-time shopping app. One of the, most asked questions we get is whats on the truck? And so customers always want to know when their special item is on the truck, so we developed the Rack stores app to give customized, localized and personalized alerts so you can identify what brands you like and be notified on your personal device when those items arrive in your local store.

Questions

1. What is the underlying need for people who shop at Nordstrom Rack (exchange)? Is Nordstrom Rack really in the clothing industry? Discounted expensive clothes? If not, what IS their business? Why do people purchase clothing in an industrialized 21st century economy?
2. What is the key situation faced by Nordstrom Rack that distinguishes it from Nordstrom?
3. List Nordstrom Racks main Strengths (SWOT internal)
4. List Nordstrom Racks main Weaknesses (SWOT internal)
5. State their central marketing objective (must synch with # 2). What do they hope to achieve?