Browse Marketing History via the Wayback Machine

What did some major marketing brands look like on the web 5, 10, or even 20 years ago? You can find out by checking the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine.

Not only is this a good way to see the evolution of web design, you can also follow along as logos change, brand ownership changes, and offerings change.

At top, how the Wayback Machine shows the number and timing of Sears.com web pages captured and saved since January, 1997 to today.

At right, the Sears "about us" page in 1997. This is obviously before the acquisition by Kmart was announced in 2004 and completed in 2005. The brand's logo is prominent along the header and navigation is along the bottom as well as via links embedded in the body copy.

At left, the "overview" page from the corporate page of Sears Holdings, which owns Sears and Kmart today.  Navigation is along the side and along the bottom (not shown in this capture).

There is a link to the Sears Archives, where the distinctive blue-and-white logo is prominent at top left of web page. Check this page for the history of the venerable Sears, Roeback & Company, a true pioneer of legacy retailing.

Back-to-School Shoppers Are in the Stores

My search for "back-to-school shopping" returned 324 million results. Here are the top 4 from the list--all ads. Zappos, Walmart, Retailmenot (coupon site), and Staples. Zappos is promoting its "fast and free shipping," and its "huge selection." The others are promoting "save, save, save."

The LA Times notes that BTS is an $84 billion market (research by the National Retail Federation). And other research indicates that lots of shoppers are looking at price promotions carefully.

Most important, many BTS shoppers prefer to buy in person, to see, touch, and evaluate merchandise rather than click to buy. And when children are part of the process, they want a say in what gets purchased (which in some cases, results in a higher transaction amount). Legacy retailing is the beneficiary of this consumer behavior pattern.

Despite supply lists provided by schools, BTS shopping still needs organization. And that's where physical stores are doing their part to group merchandise needed by students for easy access. Nearly every store has a college dorm section, and a separate school supplies section. School days begin in a matter of days. Stores are ready to outfit students in advance, attracting shoppers to malls and big-box retail locations alike.

What's Next for Legacy Retailing?

Stores have been closing as the full impact of consumer behavior shifts is felt by legacy retailers from coast to coast. The head of Urban Outfitters notes: "The U.S. market is oversaturated with retail space and far too much of that space is occupied by stores selling apparel."

Of course, this "over-storing of America" theme is nothing new: legacy retailing has been grappling with so many stores and so many malls for decades--literally. By one account, the number of shopping malls increased twice as fast as population growth between 1970 and 2015.

Lots of malls means lots of stores--yet with the ascendancy of online and mobile shopping, how many stores do legacy retailers really need?

The over-stored phenomenon and shifts in buyer behavior are leading to "zombie malls" and retail bankruptcies. Wet Seal is only one of many retailers to close its doors in 2017 alone. Some retailers are trying to reorganize as smaller chains. Is that how legacy retailing will survive?

Meanwhile, Walmart is buying smaller online businesses like ModCloth in a bid to attract their shoppers and broaden beyond its legacy customer base. Is that how legacy retailing will survive?

Amazon vs Legacy Retailers

Legacy retailing continues to look for ways to compete as Amazon innovates in online retailing. Walmart, the world's largest legacy retailer, is cutting corporate jobs to get leaner. It's also reorganizing its e-commerce leadership while it integrates its acquisition of grocery retailer Jet.com.

Above, two news releases from Jet.com's "press" section, showing the acquisition just weeks after Jet celebrated its first anniversary last year. In fact, Jet.com has itself acquired an e-commerce firm known for online shoe retailing in competition with Zappos.com (which is owned by Amazon, of course).

Meanwhile, Amazon is expanding--on a large scale. It recently announced plans to hire 100,000+ employees during the next 18 months. The book industry is coming full circle with Amazon's plans to open additional Amazon bookstores. Which means that the innovator that disrupted book retailing is now joining brick-and-mortar retailing, a very different industry all these years later now that consumer behavior has evolved.

More Legacy Retail Woes

Legacy retailing (aka brick-and-mortar stores) continues to have difficulty meeting the challenges of online shopping.

The Limited--one of the original mall-based women's specialty chains--has just closed its 250 stores from coast to coast and will sell online only. Founded more than 50 years ago, the Limited at one time had hundreds of mall stores and was hugely popular, but that was before the Internet. The retailer's private equity owner said in a statement: "In an increasingly challenging environment for mall-based retail and women's apparel, we are very disappointed that the company has had to make the difficult decision to close its retail locations."

Sears also made an announcement this week: It's selling the well-known Craftsman brand to competitor Stanley Black & Decker. Sears was one of the pioneers of catalog shopping in the 19th century, and Craftsman is one of the three brand jewels in its crown (along with Kenmore and Diehard). Selling a crown jewel to raise money will likely only postpone the inevitable. Sears has been trying for years to strategize its way out of an expensive legacy retailing situation. Sears is closing yet more stores, having already agreed to rent parts of open stores to other retailers (like Primark). 

Macy's announced that it's laying off 10,000 workers and closing 100 stores after a worse-than-anticipated holiday season. The company stated that the stores being closed were "unproductive or are no longer robust shopping destinations because of changes in the local retail shopping landscape."

What is the future of legacy retailing in a world where consumer behavior is evolving along with technology? More posts on that topic soon.