Ex-JC Penney CEO On Retailers: Give Consumers A Reason To Buy...And They Will

Allen Questrom knows a thing or two about retail having served in senior executive positions at various stores, including CEO of J C Penney Company Inc JCP between 2000 to 2005.

Speaking as a guest on CNBC, Questrom offered a simple formula for retailers to attract the attention of customers.

"You walk into many of the stores and they are very unexciting," Questrom said. "American Eagle Outfitters AEO... I was in their store the other day and it looked very exciting with a very nice assortment and people are buying."

"So when you give people a reason to buy in brick and mortar... they will buy," he argued.

Questrom suggested American Eagle may be a standout compared to other retailers as all consumers see is "stuff... and for sale signs all over the place" which is not necessarily a compelling reason to drive traffic into the stores.

Moving on, Questrom pointed out that Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. WMT is a large grocery store and it needs to be "exciting" enough to convince its grocery shopping clientele to spend incremental dollars in its other sections.

He added that while the internet is a key component of a retailing business, such as Wal-Mart's, it would be wrong to "give up" on the brick-and-mortar segment experience as the consumer needs to become "excited."