Kohl’s makes desperate move to keep customers away from rivals | Official Website of Louis Velazquez, entrepreneur, finance guy and tech innovator

Over the past few months, department store chain Kohl’s (KSS) has had a rough time resonating with consumers as many battle inflation and a higher cost of living, which have had a major impact on sales.

In its first-quarter earnings report for 2025, Kohl’s revealed that net sales decreased by 4% year-over-year during the quarter.

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Also, recent data from Placer.ai found that the average number of customers that visited Kohl’s stores during the quarter dipped by 2.7% year-over-year.

Amid low sales, Kohl’s decided to close 27 underperforming stores in 15 states, a move that was completed in April this year.

During an earnings call in May, Kohl’s Interim CEO Michael Bender said the company has noticed that some of its customers are “stressed” financially.

“People are trying to figure out how to make sense of the dollars that they have to spend, and they’re prioritizing where they want to put it,” said Bender.

Kohl’s Chief Financial Officer Jill Timm also said during the call that middle- and low-income customers are “the most pressured,” which is causing them to seek value and lower prices.

She also said that Kohl’s decision to shrink its in-store jewelry business, exit the petites business, and decrease inventory in proprietary brands contributed to a loss of customers.

Kohl’s is offering a summer deal to entice customers.

Image source&colon; Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Kohl’s announces generous offers to attract back frugal customers

Amid these challenges, Kohl’s has recently made a huge effort to win back customers, especially when it is facing a major threat from top competitors.

Kohl’s has announced “deep discounts” on family essentials in footwear, apparel, home, accessories, and back-to-school items through the return of its Summer Cyber Deals event, which will take place between July 7 and July 10, according to a new press release.

Kohl’s said these discounts will be available in stores and online, and hundreds of “only-at-Kohl’s” items will be priced under $20. The retailer is also offering free shipping on all online orders during this event.

Some of the deals Kohl’s is offering include T-shirts and tank tops starting at $5.99, 30% off backpacks and lunch bags, up to 40% off “leading brands” such as Adidas, Nike, and Under Armour for kids and babies, 50% off kitchen appliances, and 60% off bedding.

In addition to steep discounts, Kohl’s is offering all shoppers $10 in Kohl’s Cash for every $50 they spend on qualifying merchandise. It will also roll out one-day deals on select products across beauty, apparel, home, etc.

Kohl’s faces major threat from competitors

The move from Kohl’s comes after Timm said during the May earnings call that the company realized it “disappointed” its core customer by excluding too many brands from its coupons. To fix this error, Kohl’s vowed to add more brands back to these offers.

“We are bringing products back into the coupon, so we do think being more promotional and having value orientation throughout the year is gonna be important, particularly because this middle-income customer that we serve is pretty stretched in today’s environment,” said Timm.

More Retail:

Kohl’s Summer Cyber Deals also appears to be a direct response to Amazon’s Prime Day sales event, which will offer significant discounts to consumers on a wide range of products between July 8th and July 11th.

Target, another rival of Kohl’s, also recently announced that it will make back-to-school shopping “more affordable” for customers this summer by “maintaining last year’s prices on must-have supplies.”

Target said that over 1,000 back-to-school items in its stores will be under $5. It will also roll out discounts for students and teachers through its Target Circle app.