This Retailer Was Able To Thrive While Ignoring Online Sales

The retail landscape has changed so much over the past few years to the point where online sales and a fully efficient omnichannel system is all but vital for survival.

While this may be true for many retailers, it is completely false for the off-price apparel and home fashion retailer segment, specifically TJX Companies Inc (NYSE: TJX).

In fact, CNBC ranked TJX as one of the top performing retail stocks since the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed above the 10,000 mark in 2009.

How TJX Pulls It Off

The reason TJX is able to turn its back to online sales is simple: The retailer offers consumers a very compelling reason to visit its stores. As noted by a Bloomberg, the thrill of a great bargain find draws shoppers into stores. Moreover, inventory changes so often, no two visits are exactly the same.

Mall owners have become more aware of this trend and now prefer having TJX stores after the chain was relegated to strip centers.

TJX's supply chain consists of 18,000 vendors, including manufacturers and retailers. The company's buyers are able to acquire items in bulk and then resell them at a notable discount to consumers.

Adventure And Serendipity

Jordan Rost, vice president of consumer insights at the research firm Nielsen, told Bloomberg shoppers leave TJX stores with feelings of adventure and even serendipity. Even visits that don't lead to a purchase leave the customer satisfied, as it reinforces the thrill of the hunt.

Rost also pointed out another key advantage TJX holds over the traditional full-price retailers and department stores. Young consumers bring an "open-minded approach to shopping, not necessarily coming in with a specific brand or product in mind."

Image Credit: Dwight Burdette at English Wikipedia [CC BY 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons