Going Local.

Many retailers are reversing on a trend of having ‘cookie cutter’ stores throughout the country. Retail giants like Gap, Best Buy and Wal-Mart once prospered by opening identical stores around the country.

Macy’s is now joining the ranks of those who are ‘localizing’ their retail stores. They are adopting an approach that Ross and Best Buy have come to view as imperative as consumers are demanding more individualized selections. "With almost everything now available on the Internet, retailers need to give shoppers a reason to make the trip.

Best Buy began customizing the format, selection and service at its 600 U.S. stores four years ago, rather than pushing a uniform mix of merchandise. The electronics chain, which has since grown to 935 U.S. stores, began by identifying customer types and then determined store by store which customers were most important. Ross, a discount-apparel chain, intends to begin tailoring 15% of the merchandise categories in each of its more than 900 stores, starting this fall.

Department stores like Macy's also face increasing competition from fast-fashion retailers, such as Swedish clothier Hennes & Mauritz AB, known as H&M, and Inditex SA's Zara in the U.S., which track precisely what is selling in each store, down to the size, and stock them accordingly.

A localization strategy can boost sales at stores open at least a year by 1 to 3 percentage points -- and just 10% to 15% of inventory needs to be customized to get as much as 90% of the benefit, says Darrell Rigby, a Bain & Co. partner.

For more information see the article by Vanessa O’Connell of the Wall Street Journal that appeared in a myriad of online magazines.