Research Findings Continued
Secondary Research
Though secondary research we were able to see that American Eagle Outfitters had opportunities by a revamp of the current American Eagle Outfitters Loyalty program. Loyalty programs are an important part of retail business. According to Mintel, research shows that about 60% of loyal customers are loyal to that retailer because of their loyalty program. Mintel research also show, that when it comes to choice, customers are more receptive to loyalty programs that allow them to choose how to use their rewards.
Secondary research also finds that American Eagle Outfitters has, like other retailers, suffered from lack of foot traffic. In the past few years AEO had turned out disappointing market numbers.
They started the first two quarters of 2014 down about 10%. This was caused mostly by lack of people shopping in store. Mintel research shows that about 26% of people asked prefer shopping in store. Meaning many more people are probably online than in a mall shopping. Because of this AEO has looked at its structure and had made the choice to close 150 stores over time. This means that those who do shop in one of the closing stores will have to either move to shopping online on the stores website, visit another AEO store, or go to a competitor. AEO would not like the last choice so between online and in store, the best option is probably online. But how do we get the customer to get there? AEO has had some success with social media campaigns on Facebook according to Mintel research, with back to school campaigns and using customers as a face of AEO.
19