JCPenney has been in business since 1902. They have stores in the United States and in Puerto Rico. They are mostly located in urban shopping malls, however before the 1960s most of their stores were located in downtown areas. The JCPenney store has been doing business online since 1998, using the boom in Internet growth to spearhead improvements in their stores and distribution processes.

Although JCPenney has been an industry standard as a retailer for many years, there has been a shift in their overall success and popularity in recent years as the catalog industry has largely been replaced by Internet sales. They have unfortunately had a run-in in the past with major search engine Google regarding the use of links to create visibility online. Google knocked down JCPenney's ranking in the searches as a result of this, being much of the cause for their continuing up-and-coming situation with their online store. Regardless of the online rankings given, JCPenney is still considered by many to be a retail powerhouse and shopping destination for clothing and apparel.

• Clothing Competitively Priced
• 115 Years of Retail Experience
• Free Shipping Offered on Orders Over $99

There are a number of reasons why JCPenney has been such a popular clothing store choice over the years. A few of these reasons include:

Clothing Competitively Priced

JCPenney, as one of the most experienced clothing retailer, provides its customers with great low prices for quality merchandise. For example, tuxedos that could cost hundreds of dollars from other online clothing wholesalers can be purchased for far less. You are able to purchase nice tuxedos, especially the Stafford brand, near rental prices. This is a great option for a customer who might not have big bucks to spend on a prom, wedding, or other special occasion. There are lots of options for items beyond clothing. Besides men, women, children, and baby clothing products, there are also bed and bath products, furniture, and other items for around the home.

115 Years of Retail Experience

Being in business for over 115 years has benefited JCPenney throughout their transition to the online store shopping world. They regularly respond to customer complaints and work on repairing the client-company relationship when a poor customer experience has occurred. Because of this, they have an excellent customer service reputation. They have consistently responded to customer complaints politely, timely, and worked effectively to fix issues the right way.

Free Shipping Offered on Orders Over $99

When shopping online, free shipping is offered for orders that total over $99. JCPenney offers a number of different shipping options, including standard (4 to 7 business days), premium (3 business days), express (2 or 1 business day). There is also the option of ordering something online and then picking it up at a JCPenney Store. This makes getting your item relatively easy, and it takes just about as long as standard shipping (about 4 to 7 business days). There is a surcharge for oversized items, and that cost is determined per order as you proceed throughout the online checkout.

• Shipping and Delivery Issues
• Restocking Fees
• Review Tool

Shipping and Delivery Issues

There isn't a whole lot of negative to say about JCPenney. There are a lot of complaints regarding shipping and receiving issues. Some complaints regarded the slow shipping of certain items. Complaints like these usually indicate a pattern of problems with inventory and distribution center processes, and the complaint resolutions made it sound like JCPenney is working on this.

Restocking Fees

There are problems involving restocking fees for some certain products. For example, there is a restocking fee for returning furniture. Customers should be able to return unused furniture without a restocking fee if they find that it wasn't a good fit for them. Smaller items, like clothes, don't have as many issues with this however.

Review Tool

Not very many customers used the online review tool for JCPenney products. It would enhance the shopping experience if information about products that customers have purchased was readily available on the site; this information helps customers determine whether or not a product is a good fit for them.

Overall, we definitely recommend JCPenney to those shopping for low-end to mid-range priced clothing. Although they have experienced slight declining due to the disappearance of the catalog industry, we found that they have a great selection of clothes online. One of the nice things about JCPenney is that you can purchase regular products near their rental prices. This is a great fit for customers who might want to spend a little bit more and purchase a dress or tux for a special event.

We also liked that JCPenney has done a great job with customer service. We found that they were significantly beating Nordstrom when it came to keeping customers happy. Also, their rewards program is not "exclusive." You do have to spend a certain amount of money at each service level in their rewards program on their store credit card, but there are many great perks with the rewards program that they offer.