Macy's is entering the holiday season at the end of the year

Macy's is entering the crucial holiday season, recording its fourth consecutive quarter of sales growth on existing sites and generating strong customer feedback online and in stores.

The company also raised its expectations for annual profits on Wednesday.

Department stores like Macy's are under intense pressure to reinvent themselves with so many buyers migrating online or spending money elsewhere, choosing to be pampered in a spa or traveling .

Fortunately, Macy's and other retailers are doing so in the midst of a robust job market and economy, giving them more leeway and customers who are confident that splurge once in a while.

Macy's, as well as other stores, have also benefited from the woes of others. Toys R Us and Bon-Ton were liquidated. Sears Holdings Corp., which operates Sears and Kmart stores, filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy last month. And J.C. Penney pounding. Macy's claims that activities in the Midwest have increased, as Bon-Ton did before, aggressively courting its customers.

But Macy focuses her efforts on Macy's. The brands of its stores have been expanded to differentiate themselves from their rivals. It also adds more of its off-price Backstage stores and puts technology in place that allows customers to avoid the queue at checkout.

It deploys several layers of technology to offer users something they can not access online, such as the use of virtual reality in its furniture and cosmetics sections. The company's new loyalty card program has earned the loyalty of its best customers.

And he tries to become more agile. Macy's has acquired Story, a concept store, which features themes and sells every two or three months. This brought Story's founder, Rachel Shechtman, onboard to create a more dynamic shopping experience at Macy's.

And in a more radical maneuver, society shrinks to develop.

After closing more than 100 stores in recent years, we will see how small store clusters work with customers today.

The company released details of this new print in the Wall Street Journal earlier this week.

Chief Executive Jeff Gennette told industry analysts Wednesday that he was testing four different models for the new format of "convenience stores" and promised to share the details early next year.

"Macy's recipe for success is e-commerce, healthy stores and a great mobile experience that connects all of this," said Gennette, noting that the department store would reach $ 1 billion in mobile sales this year.

It's still early, but industry observers believe that Macy's is on the right track in this modified retail landscape.

Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData Retail, said the consumer tracking data confirms the story of a recovery underway.

According to Saunders, 59% of Macy's customers felt that their shopping experience was good or very good at the same time last year. This year, that figure has reached 67 percent, said Saunders. He wrote that his data also shows that for the first time in more than eight years, the number of people saying they would go to Macy to do their Christmas shopping has increased.

"In addition to the good sales figures, this evidence highlights that Macy succeeds in creating a stronger appeal," he wrote.

Macy's Inc. reported earnings of $ 62 million, or 20 cents a share, in the third quarter. According to a survey by Zacks Investment Research, earnings per share adjusted for non-recurring gains and losses was 27 cents, 13 cents higher than forecast by the industry analyst.

The $ 5.4 billion in revenue from Cincinnati also exceeded expectations.

Sales in stores opened at least a year rose 3.3%, the fourth consecutive quarter of gains after a three-year slowdown. The figure includes sales from its authorized departments.

Macy's is now expecting annual profits to rise from $ 3.95 to $ 4.15 per share, to reach between $ 4.10 and $ 4.30.

Macy's has launched the season of results for department stores. J.C. Penney and Nordstrom release their quarterly results on Thursday, while those of Kohl are early next week.

As part of a widespread sale, Macy's shares dropped $ 1.20, to settle at $ 34.59, at the noon trading session.

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Follow Anne D & # 39; Innocenzio on Twitter: @ADInnocenzio

Elements of this story were generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a report on Zacks' actions on M at https://www.zacks.com/ap/M.