BookJingle Blog

Have you seen the recent JC Penney commercials? If you ever watch TV, I’m sure you have. It features a lot of people screaming over sales. That’s about it. And at the end of the commercial, nothing is explained. There is just a mysterious date: 2/1/2012. That just happens to be today. So, after remembering that commercial (I guess ads do work), I hopped onto their site to see what all of the fuss is about.

I was greeted with the “new” JC Penney site. Apparently, they realize that JC Penney isn’t exactly anyone’ s first choice for shopping. And it would seem they also realize people are all about saving money these days. The “new” JC Penney has three kinds of prices:

Red: Everyday Prices
White: Month-Long Values
Blue: Best Prices (which happen on the 1st and 3rd Fridays of every month)

I went to the site to check out these “month-long” deals. Among the deals, I found several $6 shirts, $11 pants, and a $15 jackets. The deals are pretty great, and it makes more sense than having hap-hazard sales all the time. I’ve always noticed many stores have constant sales, and if that’s the case — how can you call them sales? It is just to make the buyer feel like they are saving more money than they are. Having sales last an entire month, plus remembering the 1st and 3rd Friday rule doesn’t seem half bad. It also seems more likely that if they run out of stock, they will have a new shipment before the sale is over. I am even tempted to check out the best deals in store this coming Friday.

My one question about this new pricing hierarchy is will they still continue to use coupons? I know JC Penney, like other department stores, used to give out lots of coupons and “cash” you can use on a later purchase. That might make a lot of people angry. Even if they get prices lower than with their coupons, people still like that feeling of saving money that coupons give. Many won’t even make a purchase without a coupon (thank you Extreme Couponing), which is silly in this case, when prices are lower than many other stores even with coupons.

So, even though many shoppers have forgotten about JC Penney, maybe this new JC Penney will bring them back. I know anytime I go to the mall, I skip over the place. Perhaps the next time I am at the mall, I’ll give it another chance. I like when a company realizes it has been doing something wrong, and decides to switch it up. Some don’t like change, but if it saves me money, I’ll give it a shot.

What do you think of the “new” JC Penney, and the three kinds of pricing? If you aren’t already a shopper, does it make you want to change your mind?