
零售業翹首以盼數月之久的消息終于在周三公布:塔吉特首席執行官布萊恩·康奈爾(Brian Cornell)在執掌公司11年后終于卸任,明年2月,公司運營總監邁克爾·費德爾克(Michael Fiddelke)將接任這一職位。
但該行業翹首以盼的另一則消息——塔吉特恢復銷售額增長——仍需等待。塔吉特再次公布了疲軟的季度財務業績,可比銷售額下滑1.9%,這家主打平價時尚的零售商重申,預計今年銷售額將出現低個位數百分比下滑,這將是其銷售額連續第三年下滑。
近年來,塔吉特的發展陷入停滯,而其主要競爭對手沃爾瑪(Walmart)卻一路高歌猛進——要知道,塔吉特曾在疫情期間實現爆發式增長,成功搶占大量市場份額。分析師指出,塔吉特已失去部分“魔力”:就在不久前,它憑借時尚平價的商品、整潔有趣的門店環境,以及周到的客戶服務脫穎而出,從競爭對手(尤其是百貨公司)手中奪走大量市場份額。
“曾對消費者需求極為敏銳的塔吉特,如今卻難以滿足美國消費者的需求。”GlobalData董事總經理尼爾·桑德斯(Neil Saunders)在研究報告中寫道。塔吉特面臨諸多問題:缺貨情況再度出現(2014年康奈爾剛上任時,缺貨便是困擾塔吉特的難題,后來得以解決)、結賬時等待時間過長,以及桑德斯所說的門店環境愈發雜亂。此外,塔吉特在多元化、公平性與包容性議題上搖擺不定,也加劇了其困境。該零售商先是激怒保守派,面臨抵制威脅;隨后又因縮減相關舉措,惹惱了眾多消費者與員工。
據美國消費者新聞與商業頻道(CNBC)報道,費德爾克于20年前加入塔吉特,先后擔任首席財務官、首席運營官等職。周三與記者通話時,他承認了上述問題,并提出三大核心目標:在消費者心中重塑“塔吉特式魔力”、優化客戶體驗,以及更好地利用技術提升運營效率、削減成本。此外,他還需凝聚員工士氣。《華爾街日報》近期報道稱,塔吉特在6月開展的全公司調查顯示,40%的員工對公司未來缺乏信心。
盡管49歲的費德爾克強調“深入了解塔吉特”的重要性,但其任命消息公布后,該公司股價在早盤交易中下跌10%。花旗(Citi)分析師保羅·萊朱茲(Paul Lejuez)表示,投資者原本“期待引入外部首席執行官”,以帶來全新視角。與此同時,GlobalData的桑德斯也指出,塔吉特需要一位能夠打破“群體思維”的首席執行官——他認為,這種思維模式已對公司創新形成阻礙。自四年前觸及歷史高點以來,塔吉特股價已累計下跌64%(同期沃爾瑪股價漲幅超一倍)。
2014年上任的康奈爾將繼續擔任執行董事長。多年來,康奈爾成功推動塔吉特實現現代化轉型:通過整合線上電商與線下門店,將塔吉特打造成電商巨頭,升級門店設施,領導團隊精準洞察消費者需求,推出Cat & Jack等一系列備受追捧的自有品牌。
在康奈爾的帶領下,塔吉特還成功應對了疫情引發的動蕩:營收從2019年的780億美元攀升至2022年1091億美元的峰值,但此后持續下滑(與此同時,沃爾瑪、開市客(Costco)、亞馬遜(Amazon)等競爭對手仍保持增長態勢)。如今,如何讓塔吉特重拾昔日“魔力”,已成為費德爾克亟待解決的難題。 (財富中文網)
譯者:中慧言-王芳
零售業翹首以盼數月之久的消息終于在周三公布:塔吉特首席執行官布萊恩·康奈爾(Brian Cornell)在執掌公司11年后終于卸任,明年2月,公司運營總監邁克爾·費德爾克(Michael Fiddelke)將接任這一職位。
但該行業翹首以盼的另一則消息——塔吉特恢復銷售額增長——仍需等待。塔吉特再次公布了疲軟的季度財務業績,可比銷售額下滑1.9%,這家主打平價時尚的零售商重申,預計今年銷售額將出現低個位數百分比下滑,這將是其銷售額連續第三年下滑。
近年來,塔吉特的發展陷入停滯,而其主要競爭對手沃爾瑪(Walmart)卻一路高歌猛進——要知道,塔吉特曾在疫情期間實現爆發式增長,成功搶占大量市場份額。分析師指出,塔吉特已失去部分“魔力”:就在不久前,它憑借時尚平價的商品、整潔有趣的門店環境,以及周到的客戶服務脫穎而出,從競爭對手(尤其是百貨公司)手中奪走大量市場份額。
“曾對消費者需求極為敏銳的塔吉特,如今卻難以滿足美國消費者的需求。”GlobalData董事總經理尼爾·桑德斯(Neil Saunders)在研究報告中寫道。塔吉特面臨諸多問題:缺貨情況再度出現(2014年康奈爾剛上任時,缺貨便是困擾塔吉特的難題,后來得以解決)、結賬時等待時間過長,以及桑德斯所說的門店環境愈發雜亂。此外,塔吉特在多元化、公平性與包容性議題上搖擺不定,也加劇了其困境。該零售商先是激怒保守派,面臨抵制威脅;隨后又因縮減相關舉措,惹惱了眾多消費者與員工。
據美國消費者新聞與商業頻道(CNBC)報道,費德爾克于20年前加入塔吉特,先后擔任首席財務官、首席運營官等職。周三與記者通話時,他承認了上述問題,并提出三大核心目標:在消費者心中重塑“塔吉特式魔力”、優化客戶體驗,以及更好地利用技術提升運營效率、削減成本。此外,他還需凝聚員工士氣。《華爾街日報》近期報道稱,塔吉特在6月開展的全公司調查顯示,40%的員工對公司未來缺乏信心。
盡管49歲的費德爾克強調“深入了解塔吉特”的重要性,但其任命消息公布后,該公司股價在早盤交易中下跌10%。花旗(Citi)分析師保羅·萊朱茲(Paul Lejuez)表示,投資者原本“期待引入外部首席執行官”,以帶來全新視角。與此同時,GlobalData的桑德斯也指出,塔吉特需要一位能夠打破“群體思維”的首席執行官——他認為,這種思維模式已對公司創新形成阻礙。自四年前觸及歷史高點以來,塔吉特股價已累計下跌64%(同期沃爾瑪股價漲幅超一倍)。
2014年上任的康奈爾將繼續擔任執行董事長。多年來,康奈爾成功推動塔吉特實現現代化轉型:通過整合線上電商與線下門店,將塔吉特打造成電商巨頭,升級門店設施,領導團隊精準洞察消費者需求,推出Cat & Jack等一系列備受追捧的自有品牌。
在康奈爾的帶領下,塔吉特還成功應對了疫情引發的動蕩:營收從2019年的780億美元攀升至2022年1091億美元的峰值,但此后持續下滑(與此同時,沃爾瑪、開市客(Costco)、亞馬遜(Amazon)等競爭對手仍保持增長態勢)。如今,如何讓塔吉特重拾昔日“魔力”,已成為費德爾克亟待解決的難題。 (財富中文網)
譯者:中慧言-王芳
The news the retail industry has been anticipating for months was finally announced on Wednesday: Target CEO Brian Cornell is finally stepping down after 11 years at the helm and will be replaced by his operations chief Michael Fiddelke in February.
But another piece of news the industry is looking for—Target returning to sales growth—will have to wait. Target reported yet another quarter of weak financial results, with comparable sales down 1.9%, and the cheap-chic retailer reaffirmed its expectation that sales will decline by a low single-digit percentage this year, projecting a third year in a row of declines.
In recent years, after a torrid run that included Target making massive market share gains during the pandemic, the retailer has stagnated even as archrival Walmart has soared. Analysts say that Target has lost some of its magic touch. That is, the hip but affordable merchandise; fun, well-kept stores; and attentive customer service that helped it stand out and steal a lot of market share from rivals, notably department stores, in the not too distant past.
“Target, which used to be very attuned to consumer demand, has lost its grip on delivering for the American shopper,” Neil Saunders, managing director at GlobalData, wrote in a research note. Those problems have included a resurgence of out-of-stocks (a problem that was plaguing Target when Cornell took the reins in 2014 but had been overcome); long wait times at checkout registers; and what Saunders says are increasingly messy stores. Adding to Target’s woes were its flip-flops on the DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) issue. The retailer attracted the ire of conservatives who threatened boycotts, but then angered many shoppers and employees when it curtailed some of its efforts.
Fiddelke, who started at Target two decades ago and went on to become finance chief and then COO, acknowledged those problems on a call with reporters on Wednesday, according to CNBC. He has three main goals: reestablish the “Tar-zhay” magic with customers, improve customer experience, and make better use of technology to make operations more efficient and less costly. He’ll also have to rally the troops: The Wall Street Journal recently reported that a companywide survey in June found that 40% of Target workers didn’t have confidence in its future.
Though Fiddelke, 49, extolled the value of knowing Target deeply, shares fell 10% in morning trading on the news of his appointment. Citi analyst Paul Lejuez said investors were “hoping for an external CEO” with fresh eyes. Meanwhile GlobalData’s Saunders said Target needs a CEO who can cut through the groupthink he says has impeded innovation. Target’s stock is down 64% since its all-time high four years ago. (During that time, Walmart shares have more than doubled.)
Cornell, who took the reins in 2014, will stay on as executive chairman. For a number of years, Cornell was wildly successful in modernizing Target by integrating its e-commerce with its physical stores to turn it into a massive online player, upgrading its stores and overseeing teams that always seemed to know what fun items shoppers might want, with launch after launch of wildly popular store brands like Cat & Jack.
Under Cornell, Target also successfully navigated the turmoil of the pandemic, with revenue rising from $78 billion in 2019 and peaking at $109.1 billion in 2022 before slipping ever since. (Meanwhile, Walmart, Costco, and Amazon continue to thrive.) It will be up to Fiddelke to figure out how to put the “zhay” back in Target.