If you are an investor in Nordstrom (JWN) you should take a look at the December 2014 Investors presentation they released. The chart from that presentation that got me thinking was this one:
Nordstrom’s is gaining traction on selling clothing online. Nordstrom seems to have built the best of both worlds – with free shipping and their reputation for liberal return policies, they have given the consumer the ‘in-home dressing room’.
Business Insider also just ran this article discussing what Nordstrom is doing right. So I wonder – who is their biggest competitors in the online space? There are the super high end retailers – i.e Tiffany’s and Nieman Marcus, but they don’t have the mass appeal as Nordstrom. On the other end you have Macy’s, Target, and Amazon, who I don’t believe they draw the same class of consumer. So I think they have built a pretty decent spot fort themselves in clothing- a unique combination of online presence, customer service image, and brick and mortar stores.
Investors are taking notice – the stock is up 120% in five years, and is currently pretty richly valued. But if you are a long term investor, or if we see a pullback in their stock price, I think Nordstrom is a company to consider for your portfolio.