Plano, TX, November 10--JCPenney kicks off the holiday shopping season by celebrating 10 years of online retailing -- a decade in which it has blazed a trail for department stores on the Internet.
Today, millions of visitors shop www.jcpenney.com, where they can choose from more than 200,000 items whenever they want to shop. The site has become one of the leading home furnishings and apparel sites in the retail industry and an integral part of the company's strategy for success.
JCPenney was a pioneer in integrating the web site with its traditional department store and catalog channels to provide customers with maximum convenience, which has become known as "multi-channel" shopping. Customers can have items delivered to their homes or any of JCPenney's 1,020 stores, and returns are easily accomplished at JCPenney stores or by mail. Orders can be entered directly from home or in-store cash registers by JCPenney sales associates.
JCPenney's online sales have grown from $1,000 in 1994 to more than $600 million in 2003, and they are expected to reach $1 billion in 2006 -- a mere 12 years after launch. JCPenney catalogs provided a strong foundation for entering the online world. Initially, the company marketed a handful of items through third-party Internet service providers, allowing customers to view the items online and place orders over the phone.
