Nordstrom Is Closed for Business

Have you ever heard of a retailer closing their store for 10 days to prepare for a sale?

Of course you haven't.... no retailer could afford to shut their doors for almost two whole weeks to prepare for a sale -- unless of course it's a Going Out of Business Sale.

But last night around 10p central time, that is exactly what Nordstom did.

Or did they?

When I went to the Nordstrom site this morning, I got this:

As you can see, the visual is strikingly similar to last night's, indicating that the screen my wife saw was not a fluke but a planned event.

BUT - notice the site ISN'T closed for business until the 20th as last night's screen shot suggested.

The site is simply pre-marketing an upcoming sale but the rest of the site works just fine.

But remember, my wife, and I'd argue anyone that saw last night's landing page thinks the site is down until July 20th.

So why should you care?

The New Retail Marketing Landscape

Actually, it's not just retail marketing, it's all marketing in my opinion. But we're quickly entering a new, third phase of the history of marketing.

In the beginning marketing was about interruption and it was advertising driven.

Then social media, Tivo and ad blocker software ushered in our current state of invitation marketing.

But with the advent of smartphones and now tablet computers, I believe we'll quickly move into an age of Propinquity Marketing marked by our ability and need to deliver contextually relevant messaging throughout each point in the purchase process.

Further, because today's untethered consumer is able to fulfill their need for instant shopping gratification, it's imperative that we're always available to them. That means not only 24/7/365 access via electronic stores but also, that those online retail locations are available in usable formats across all device sizes and formats.

The Glance And Go Consumer

My friend Tim Hayden likes to talk about the Glance and Go Consumer. How with mobile technology -- mostly the smartphone -- consumer information and gratification cycles are becoming increasingly ADD.

Thus, clarity of communication will become increasingly important. Function will overtake form as a driving design motivator and clarity of communication will begin to replace concept.

Marketing, at least at certain propinquity points, will morph from making the sale to helping the consumer make a buying decision. Marketing's role in the sales process will transition from push to pull and become more helpful and dare I say elegant.

It will be necessary if marketers wish to remain relevant because today's Glance and Go Consumer isn't going to stick around to figure out if your online retail store is really going to be closed for the next 10 days.

They're just going to pop over to your competitor, likely via a Google Search, and buy the same item from the competition -- which is exactly what my wife did.

So what do you think? Or more importantly, what do you think Nordstrom was thinking?

Let me know in the comments.

And if you'd like to learn more about Propinquity Marketing I'd be happy to chat. My company, Converse Digital can help you develop your Propinquity Marketing Strategy.