Macy's truly loyal customer base is the baby boomer . . . and their aging, near-retirement children. The prize for Macy's and ALL RETAILERS are the Millennials. Millennials aren't shopping at Macy's in the way that their parents or grandparents did. They are not shopping retailers like their parents did. They buy online, and it doesn't matter where what they want comes from. They buy the best for the least amount of their dollars - they will choose a place that offers free shipping over a place that doesn't.
I am an associate, and I see the frustration of Macy's so-called loyal customers - not being able to use coupons, not having what they want in store, trying to go with the trend and buying online only to receive it broken or in bad condition because the back of the house doesn't take care with packaging. Most of those people are not computer savvy and they refuse to buy online. When they are convinced to, they have difficulties in returning, or the quality, etc. At least once a day, I face a boomer customer who tells me that they are closing their account and never shopping at Macy's again. Hopefully the new (old) credit roll out will help with some of that.
Loyal customers can stick with Macy's as long as their life lasts, but as a game plan for Macy's that is a losing war of attrition. Until they get those young people to become life long Macy's customers, they have a real problem.
Posted by @PwPumm3-1fwt, bumped for being on point.