Lord & Taylor! Is it just another casualty of the pandemic of 2020 or simply hampering over the years by severely antiquated technological systems and just never caught up to the 21st century?
Over the past 194 years, Lord & Taylor survived world wars, natural and man-made disasters, and two worldwide pandemics, but it never successfully converged onto digital platforms. Lord & Taylor (L&T) was a great store, one of America’s oldest department stores and it died because it missed the mark on incorporating a strong digital presence into its survival arsenal. L&T had the right idea — quality merchandise, stunning presentations, stellar “in-store” associates eager to treat you like royalty when you entered the door, but the world evolved into a digital era, and L&T did not emerge with the world. It may be true that L&T stumbled in some areas over the years, but loyal customers like myself, stood by our favorite retailer.
Le Tote, A San Francisco online clothing rental company purchased the prestigious iconic Lord & Taylor for $100 million in 2019 and was thought to be its “savior.” One would believe the online Silicon Valley start-up would have a populace of inspiring brilliance to weave a digital web around the struggling brick and mortar but their inability to deliver proved all the skeptics correct about Le Tote. Lord & Taylor needed a “workable” online presence that delivered the same quality and service as it did offline. Le Tote’s inability to remotely weather COVID-19’s sealed all possibilities of a future for Lord & Taylor and despite several strategic monetary shifting by Le Tote, the American retailer known as Lord & Taylor met with fatality.
Hope arrives! At a bankruptcy auction on October 15, 2020, the Saardia Group purchased the Lord & Taylor’s trademark, social media accounts, customer data and other intellectual property for 12 million. The plan: to keep the Lord & Taylor website alive. This is the latest message from the Lord & Taylor website:
WE’RE ON A QUICK HOLIDAY BREAK
We’re working on our new site and experience.
Check back soon for launch details.
A “down” website is just nails in the coffin. Revive Lord &Taylor! Here are Five Quick Tips to breathe digital life into Lord & Taylor:
- Define and refine who you are branding to – your existing and “new” target audience? Please include GenX, Y&Z. Good idea to invest in online research to give you an accurate portrait of your customer, their needs, purchasing habits and trends.
- GO DIGITAL! Develop, create and revamp your social media footprint. Make sure its at least the size of Big Foot! Include Blogging, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, SnapChat and any other platforms that will allow you to connect and have a more intimate relationship with your customers. Blog about relevant topics in your consumer’s life – capitalize on trending topics (hint… home alone clothing for the Pandemic Home Worker; sleek stylish outfit pairings for your Zoom meeting). Create exclusive content that drives consumers to your social media platforms. Speak to human interest topics and implement a call-to-action component as well.
- Partner with relevant TV or streaming shows. Create interactive contests, loyalty games etc. that will be spoken/accessed by particular programing.
- Befriend well followed fashion and home Influencers (3million+ followers) and work with them to embed content about Lord & Taylor that speak to its exclusivity, trendiness and high-class.
- Get that website UP, running and customer friendly! Customers can’t buy if the products are not accessible. Make sure the website resonates the same online service that Lord & Taylor customers have come to love offline. Make deals with the top delivery companies such as USPS, UPS and FedX in order to offer immediate and same day delivery just like other leading competitors.
One day soon, we may say:
Welcome To The Digital Era Lord & Taylor!
Charlotte’s Wisdom 