Dive Brief:

• Neiman Marcus’ IPO filing says that the department store chain is dedicated to an omnichannel strategy leveraging physical stores and e-commerce, according to Digiday.
• Neiman’s S-1 filing says that 75% percent of its revenues are digitally influenced, and 24% of the $4.8 billion sold in 2014 resulted directly from online and mobile sales.
• While the average customer is 51 years old, Neiman’s has reached out to a younger clientele via social media, and claims 1.2 million followers across the major platforms. 

Dive Insight:

While many department store chains have struggled to adapt to digital consumers, the ahead-of-the-curve Neiman Marcus is promising to continue to meet them where they live as it goes public. The Dallas-based chain has already introduced a mobile app, beacon technologies, in-store pickup of online orders and even an innovation lab to help shore up its bricks-and-mortar business with omnichannel strategies.

Internally, Neiman Marcus has erased the distinctions between online and offline efforts in marketing, merchandising and planning, and customer experience, while building an entirely new unit for social media, which was previously under the PR department. 

But while the moves are in line with shifting consumer trends, some analysts worry that the retailer may no longer be able to think as long-term when it goes public due to the pressure of short-term expectations from investors.

“Neiman Marcus has always planned for the long term, and they’ve been able to put aside concerns about short-term sales,” brand strategist David Melancon told Digiday. “Going to the public market, are they still going to be able to do that? There are a lot of pressures on a public company, but a retailer will have to keep investing in innovation because it’s long term. At Neiman, they’ve always invested a lot in understanding their customer.”