The big news on the screens this season is the recent announcement made by Sears Holdings depicting another one of their attempt to save the sinking ship. From now on, Sears Holdings’ Kenmore brand products will be sold on Amazon. Surprisingly expected, wasn’t it? The debate on how long Sears Holdings will survive before announcing its great fall has been due for a long time, but to see how it manages to swim in the storm is exactly the kind of treat its competitors keep looking forward to.
This recent second attempt, within the same year, to save the brand’s name and increase its market share, is another proof of how desperate Sears Holdings is to fight back to regain its position. But are they going to succeed or not? The first successful attempt was selling the Craftsman brand to Stanley Black and Decker for $900 million. A good way to earn as much as a business can from the leftover brand’s repute, but an obvious attempt to strive hard. This collaboration with Amazon within the same year is seen as a less profitable approach by many analysts and competitors.
Kenmore has been the brand that helped in cooking, cleaning, and living a completely different yet improved lifestyle. Unfortunately, with the advent of other home appliance brands like Home Depot, Lowe’s, and the Best Buy brand, Kenmore, a project of Sears, lost its overwhelming place in the market. Whether this was owing to the lack of a proper marketing strategy or the quality of products offered by other brands was better, we can’t say much.
The heated discussion in society hasn’t stopped since the announcement. From advertising agencies in Dubai to marketing firms all over the world are applauding the survival effort shown by the brand. It seems like Amazon has saved Sears by offering them their helping hand in these tough times. As the deal closes, Amazon gets to own the inventory and increase the e-commerce sales of the products, while the main service of shipping the product from Sears’ warehouses would be part of the job of Innovel Solutions, a Sears business unit responsible for delivering and installing the appliances. According to Tom Park, the president of Kenmore, Craftsman, and Diehard, he says, “This collaboration is the first of its kind for Kenmore, broadening its accessibility to the next generation of American families outside of Sears-branded retail channels.” And not just this, Amazon has agreed to integrate Amazon’s Alexa voice into the Kenmore Smart appliances for better functioning. Charlie Kindel, the director of Alexa Smart Home, says, “We’re excited that Kenmore has added Alexa functionality to these products, and we think customers will love the convenience of cooling their home, starting their laundry, and more, using only their voice.” This seems that the two of them are working it out quite well on their part.
If we take a look at the recent marketing stocks, a ray of hope is seen for Sears Holdings as its stock has increased 11 percent in trading yesterday to close at $9.60. Amazon was, as usual, able to maintain its all-time high position with a stock value of $ 1.028.70. It’s as if Christmas bells are ringing. Had it been the known advertising companies in Dubai facing a tough time, they would have done the same, say the leading marketing experts, showing their support, and why not? For a company that has experienced a weak sales year, this is news to rejoice thus, thus proving that Amazon’s e-commerce has lent Sears Holdings (Kenmore) a hand in this tough time.
