Thursday, February 3, 2005 - Submited by Matt Havercamp - Travidia Inc.

Customer Loyalty Doesn't Guarantee Retail Exclusivity

According to a recent analysis of customers from the BIGresearch's December Consumer Intentions and Actions survey, "The idea of customer loyalty, where consumers shop exclusively at a particular retail store, ceased to exist long ago," said Gary Drenik of BIGresearch. Loyalty has been replaced by cross shopping. Your 'customers' are also your competitor's customers," he said.

The report shows that while 11.6 million consumers say they shop most often for women's clothing at JC Penney, 8 million of their best women's clothing customers also shop most often at Wal-Mart for some other merchandise category. 69% of JC Penney's best women's clothing customers have a relationship with Wal-Mart and could be at risk particularly if Wal-Mart refines their apparel merchandise selection.

Other leading retailers who share a majority of their best customers with Wal-Mart include:



Percent of best customers shared with Wal-Mart

Shoes:
Payless
71%

Electronics:
Best Buy
62%

Linens & Bedding:
Bed, Bath & Beyond
54%

Home Improvement
Home Depot
64%

Prescriptions:
Walgreens
71%

Groceries:
Kroger
65%


The report "When Customers Cross Shop" examines competitive cross shopping for 12 lines of merchandise including:
Women's Clothing, Men's Clothing, Children's Clothing, Children's Toys, Shoes, Electronics, Major Appliances, Linens and Bedding, Home Improvement/Hardware, Prescription Drugs, Groceries andHealth & Beauty Aids.

The complete report may be purchased from BIGresearch.