Will ‘Bluelight Specials’ bring customers back to Kmart?
It’s déjà vu all over again at Kmart, which is bringing back its "Bluelight Specials" once more in an attempt to drive incremental sales inside the chain’s stores.
Alasdair James, president of Kmart, told Reuters, "It’s part of our DNA. We think there is a real positive buzz coming out of it and we expect to see an increase in sales."
While Mr. James may be optimistic, others may question whether the promise of surprise deals inside Kmart’s 900+ stores will be enough to draw consumers to what many believe are long neglected locations. Kmart’s same-store sales fell 7.3 percent in the second quarter, which followed a seven percent decline in the first quarter and a two percent drop in the fourth quarter of last year.
The decision to use Bluelight Specials is not the first time Kmart has brought this tactic back throughout the years. This time, however, the chain has added a twist of technology. Shoppers who download the Kmart mobile app will get Bluelight alerts right to their phones. In addition, deals will not only pop-up in stores, but Kmart will offer specials online, as well.
![[Image: Bluelight Specials]](/public/images/discussions/18643/bluelightspecials-still.jpg)
- Bluelight Specials – Kmart
- Struggling retailer Kmart turns the blue light back on – Reuters/AOL News
- Sears Holdings Reports Second Quarter 2015 Results – Sears Holdings Corporation
- Sears Holdings Reports First Quarter 2015 Results – Sears Holdings Corporation
- Sears Holdings Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2014 Results – Sears Holdings Corporation
Discussion Questions
Will bringing back Bluelight Specials do more to keep existing customers in Kmart stores or attract new ones? Do you expect Kmart to increase sales through the use of Bluelight Specials?
Poll
BrainTrust
Paula Rosenblum
Co-founder, RSR Research
You know, it’s a really good ad. It hearkens back to a time when people (some people) looked forward to those Bluelight Specials. And I suppose if I ever had been a Kmart customer, I’d go check it out. So I would imagine it will bring back former customers.
But if the stores are as described above — dirty and out of stock on the best products — it’ll be a one-hit wonder, and they’ll get one visit and done.
Sort of like the RadioShack ads (the ’80s called and they want their store back). They were really good, but didn’t solve the company’s core problems.
Sadly, marketing and advertising do not a successful company make.
The real question is, why does Kmart exist? The stores have been neglected by the parent company. It has no core brand message to resonate with consumers. Its products are ordinary, and there are a myriad of alternative retailers. Bringing back Bluelight Specials is not going to turn Kmart around.
They may move product with their Bluelight Specials, but only among those who are already shopping there. So nice, but not a big deal.
It will only help the true blue loyal customers of Kmart be happy, all others will not see the difference. Kmart has lost so much that even this will not help them. Sales will continue to decline as both Walmart and Target erode the Kmart customer base with newer stores and more choices, selling both food and non-food. Kmart needs a whole lot more than Bluelight Specials to get back on track.
I don’t expect Kmart to increase sales because they are closing so many stores. Most Americans have to drive past several Walmarts to find a Kmart that is still open. Therefore it is just another gimmick press release like being open on Thanksgiving or having lay-away. If the Bluelight Specials worked, Kmart would not have dumped them to begin with. It is pretty sad when the only ideas you can come up with are failed recycled ideas from the past. Kmart is like a roulette wheel. It has neither consciousness nor memory, and loses most of the time.
Bluelight Specials are not going to make a difference, if only because no one remembers when they were effective, appealing promotions many years ago. Kmart has likely reached the point of unavoidable failure just as Fresh & Easy and A&P did. Sales at Kmart are down and have been declining. Comp store sales are down and have been declining. Losses are being reported. Seventy-five stores were shuttered in the first half; none opened. Kmart is now about a $12 billion annually in sales company. Walmart sales are over $480 billion annually and Target’s are $73 billion.
There is nothing about this to excite me. After all these years this is the best they can do? This was a good gimmick way back when. But those customers are long gone, some never to return. Why use this to attempt to attract former customers? Sounds like a last-ditch effort to show relevance. So in this person’s opinion Kmart again shows too little too late.
I am usually cynical about the resurrection of old promotions. Most often they represent desperation, not innovation. But I must admit that this new rendition of the Bluelight Special makes sense for Kmart for a couple of reasons.
Whether Kmart increases sales with this new rendition will likely depend upon the retailer’s ability to find the right frequency of the promotion and the value each deal represents to the shopper. If they are meaningful offers that include high volume and widely used departments and categories, the upside potential for the new Bluelight Special is very good.
I grew up in Kmart’s backyard. The loyal customers of Kmart who remember the good values of Bluelight Specials are mostly aging seniors now. In today’s retail landscape, harkening back to the old DNA of Kmart is not much of an asset anymore. What Kmart failed to find is a relevance to younger shoppers and a management structure that invested in the brand and the shopping experience over the past 20 or more years. It might just be too late.
Kmart desperately needs a reason to believe. Eddie has abused this brand even more than Sears. Is it possible? Sure he bought woeful mess first. Kmart was in that class of ’62 with Target and Walmart.
Bluelight Special is a blinding flash of the obvious. The herd is moving to the off-price ditch. Kmart once was at the head of this herd. Now it’s the tyranny of austerity.
BS (Bluelight Specials) will only work if the deal is better than Walmart or Target or the various and sundry dollar stores.
As we are known to say, “retail ain’t for sissies!”
I think it’s a ploy that draws people of lower-level incomes hoping to find bargains to make their dollars go further. Also, the game of the chase. I never paid attention to them before and never would now. That’s why one should always shop with a list and avoid the impulse shopping that a Bluelight Special creates.
Kmart and Sears are in the land of long-term leases on the side of lower-tier economic resources. Announcing a sale with special effects in an empty store is not going to help as much as a new location and facelift will.
“Kmart’s same-store sales fell 7.3 percent in the second quarter, which followed a seven percent decline in the first quarter.”
How long does it take a falling object to come to rest?
Apparently when you are paying rent to yourself and when you can make just enough to pay the rent, you can keep the lights on, even if they are blue.
I hadn’t even thought about a Kmart store in so long, it is surprising they still exist.
Awesome Happy Customers equal Great Business.
Bringing back the Bluelight Special, particularly though the app, is a fine idea since people love a surprise deal and “vintage” throwbacks. However, I don’t think it will do anything to bring in new customers. Also, didn’t they try to bring this back a few times in the ’00s? The app may help a little — if people download it, that is.
I can’t remember the last time I went inside a Kmart, probably since they all seem to be closing. I can not wrap my finger around who the Kmart shopper is and what Kmart’s brand story is. Growing up, Target and Kmart were similar to me, along with a long-gone store called Zayre. Then Target did their whole smart reinvention and suddenly going to Target became an experience. Kmart was and is still just a store. A Bluelight Special doesn’t make it an experience — it is just another sale at a store a fun throwback that might generate a little consumer buzz (“Hey did you hear Kmart brought back the Bluelight special?” “Wow, neat.” Or “What’s a bluelight special?”), but nothing more.
*The above is my personal opinion and not necessarily that of my employer.*