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The new JCPenney sounds so appealing on paper. Earlier this year,the retailer announced that "fake prices" inflated big time to make markdowns seem more tempting woulddisappear, to be replaced with a "fair and square" structure in which original prices started at least 40% lower to begin with.There would no longer be any need to corral coupons or show up atstores at 4 a.m. to get the best prices. Sounds terrific, right? Sofar, though, the reaction among consumers to the newly made-overJCPenney is that there's not much need to show up at thestores at all. On Tuesday, when JCPenney released its first quarter results , company CEO Ron Johnson the retail rock star responsible for the success of the Apple Store released a statement announcing that, among other things,"Customers love the new JCP they discover in ourstores." The numbers circulated in the release tell quite a different story: Comparable store sales for the first quarter declined 18.9 percent.Total sales decreased 20.1 percent, which includes the effects ofthe Company's exit from its outlet business. Internet salesthrough jcp.com were $271 million in the first quarter, decreasing27.9 percent from last year. Overall, the company reported a $163 million net loss in thequarter. Customers sure have a strange way of showing how much they"love" the new JCP. ( MORE: 10 Indie-Seeming Brands That Aren't ) One of the reasons JCPenney is getting less love is that, now thatcoupons and short-lived discounts have disappeared, many shoppersdon't feel compelled to visit. There's just no sense ofurgency. "The closest JCPenney is about a half hour away fromme," said one woman, who used to hit JCP twice a month buthasn't been to the store since the chain stopped sending hercoupons, in an Associated Press story . "If I don't get a special discount, it's notworth the trip." Johnson says that the sales slump can be fixed by"educating" JCPenney customers better: "We havework to do to educate the customer on our pricing strategy and todrive more traffic to our stores," the CEO said in hisreleased statement. ( MORE: The Price Is Righter: JCPenney's Big Retail Makeover ) It seems as if the company's executives need to learn a fewthings about their customers as well. Execs admitted as much afterits first quarter results became public. Via BusinessInsider : "We did not realize how deep some of the customers were into[coupons]," said [JCPenney COO Michael] Kramer. JCPenney CEO and Apple retail God Ron Johnson weighed in on it too."Coupons were a drug," he said. "They reallydrove traffic." The problem, from JCPenney's perspective, is that coupons still are a drug for shoppers. JCPenney may now be "drug-free," so tospeak, but there are dozens of other places consumers can get that"Wow! What a deal!" high that only comes as a result ofcoupons and dramatic short-term markdowns. Finding a store thatengages in these practices and has merchandise that's verysimilar to JCPenney is usually as simple as looking to the left orright of JCPenney at the mall. ( MORE: Save Hundreds on These Essential Household Goods ) Nonetheless, according to Johnson, even as "sales andprofitability have been tougher than anticipated during the first13 weeks" of the retailer's makeover, "we areconfident in our vision to become America s favorite store." Some analysts still foresee a future in which JCPenney'sgambit works out splendidly and winds up being copied by otherretailers in the long run. The company has been cutting costs andmaking changes that few shoppers notice getting rid of sales commissions , for instance which should improve JCPenney's bottom line. The consensus, however, seems to be that the JCPenney makeover isshaping up as a major flop, largely because stubborn shoppers justaren't buying into the concept and they're unlikely todo so, no matter how much they're "educated."Here are one analyst's insights, per the AP : "Consumers want deals, and they're willing to wait forthem," said C. Britt Beemer, chairman of America'sResearch Group, a consumer research firm. "When you traincustomers to shop at big discounts, that customer is not going tochange." ( MORE: Where Dollar Stores Are Still Not Welcome ) JCPenney's efforts to introduce "fair and square"pricing, to end the games involving sharp markups inevitablyfollowed by dramatic markdowns, and to wean customers off ofcoupons and discounts are all noble and good. Who doesn'tlike the idea of being treated in "fair and square"fashion, after all? Unfortunately for JCPenney, while shoppers maylike the idea of predictable pricing in theory, in practiceanything that's predictable becomes boring. It lacksexcitement. However contrived and manipulative, coupons and flashsales build excitement, and no excitement typically means no sale. Brad Tuttle is a reporter at TIME. Find him on Twitter at @bradrtuttle . You can also continue the discussion on TIME s Facebook page and on Twitter at @TIME . I am an expert from plasticsextrusionmachinery.com, while we provides the quality product, such as China Mattress Making equipment , Plastics Extrusion Machinery Manufacturer, Plastic Mixer Machine,and more.
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