Alexander Zick [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Retail Portfolio Assessment: The Good Ones Into the Pot, the Bad Ones Into Your Crop

KPIs & Benchmarks

What tools are available to help brands choose their most promising retail locations, and identify the not so promising ones? Let’s mobilise some unusual KPIs!

Inspired online stores, a lack of innovation in brick & mortar retail, overpriced retail locations and double-digit traffic losses all contribute to diluting 4-Wall contributions of many brick & mortar stores. It’s therefore no big surprise that we are frequently asked to help brands to pick out the most promising retail locations, to identify locations to shut down and, even more importantly, to identify the ones with potential for store performance improvement.

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online customer acquisition

Online Customer Acquisition: Challenges and Opportunities for Brands

Brand Strategy, , ,

Building a successful e-commerce business requires a strong online customer acquisition strategy, especially when the competition are big platforms like Amazon or Zalando. How can brands leverage their strengths to compete?

A brands’ ability to operate a successful e-commerce business clears the path to bigger margins and critical access to customer insights compared to wholesale channels. If you are an executive working for a ‘traditional’ fashion brand and want to better understand the marketing of your online store, ask your e-commerce director this simple question:

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USP Goats

Goats on a Roof! And What’s Your USP?

Unique Retail, ,

As far as unique selling propositions go, goats on a roof are pretty unique. And this offline-only retail location on Vancouver Island has turned them into a long-term success story without selling a single goat.

Once upon a time there was a tiny fruit booth near the Trans-Canada Highway that served Vancouverites en route to their weekend and summer houses as well as tourists exploring an island full of natural beauty. That was back in the 70ies when Kristian and Solveig Graaten, who had migrated from Norway 20 years earlier, decided to start a small retail business on Vancouver Island.

In the meantime, this little fruit stall has become the queen of retail locations and one of the most frequented tourist attractions on Vancouver Island: The Coombs Old Country Market.

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Brand Expansion Benelux Rotterdam

Going Benelux? Done right, a growth opportunity for brands and retailers

Exploring Markets, ,

What are the challenges and opportunities for brand expansion to Benelux? Learn how to best tap the full potential of the Benelux retail markets.

When considering new regions for brand expansion, Benelux countries may raise concern about their small size as well as the many different languages and other cultural particularities. But taken together, the relatively small countries of Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg represent an often underestimated powerhouse.

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Brand development feature

Brand Development for the Future: Back to the Basics

Brand Strategy, , ,

Successful brand development relies on getting three key factors right: having a unique selling proposition (USP), working with the right people, and creating simple and lean processes.

The brand and retail world has grown in size and sophistication, but also in complexity. Every one of the 20 odd years I’ve worked in this industry has made clearer what allows some companies to succeed and what others lack. New distribution channels and fashionable management philosophies notwithstanding, focusing on these three success factors is essential.

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How to Measure Omnichannel Retailing Success

KPIs & Benchmarks, , , ,

Brand growth management already has many KPIs. What  omnichannel retailing KPIs do you use to measure the payback of your investment?

Summer time is brand strategy planning time, when brand managers prepare for battle with their KPIs to prepare for new recruiting and securing a higher share of next year’s investments for their channel. But consumers have fundamentally challenged that profit centre logic. Perhaps it’s also time to rework your brand investment planning and the KPIs that measure brand growth success?

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brand private equity

Driving Brand Growth with Private Equity

Brand Strategy, ,

Brand private equity investments have increased, but not all have been success stories. How can PE and brands work together successfully?

Over the last couple of years, brand private equity (PE) investments have increased strongly. Brand investments were very attractive, PE investors had a positive influence, but not all PE investments have been success stories. From my experience as a CFO in that environment, I’d like to share some learnings on how brands can grow successfully with private equity. (more…)

Bestseller Management

How to Benefit from Bestseller Management Immediately

KPIs & Benchmarks, , , ,

Bestseller Management is one of the most important processes to improve sell-through and mark-down in the consumer goods industry. What KPI helps identify bestsellers and make smart decisions about them?

Some companies like Zara, Kennel & Schmenger or s.Oliver excel at managing bestsellers. While Zara works with sophisticated analytics to alter bestselling styles by fabric, color or detailing, s.Oliver masters  bestseller management to a degree that endangers its potential to innovate.

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online fashion

Empowering Shoppers and Brands: The Latest Trends in Online Fashion Retail

Brand Strategy, , , ,

Fashion shoppers and brands demand more than monotonous ‘scroll and buy’ experiences. New trends are already redefining online fashion retail, are you following them?

Shopping for fashion online has become widespread, especially for millennials who now buy 20% of their clothing on the internet, according to WWD.

And the big online retailers, led by Amazon, deserve credit for having found ways to offer reliable and trustworthy shopping experiences with easy and secure payments, flexible deliveries and often free returns. By establishing this trust in the online shopping process, a big milestone has been reached that allows online fashion retail to leave its infancy. (more…)

brand management reading list

Update Your Brand Management Reading List

Best Read, , , , , , ,

As the summer holiday season kicks in, we’re here to help you get your brand management reading list for all those long flights up to date.

Choose from our curated reader favourites from this past quarter for topics as diverse as the latest trends in edited retail, high and low tech fashion size finders, an update on fashion retail in India, creating memorable store experinces or Adidas’ Global Cities strategy. We’re sure there’s something for everyone. (more…)

‘Treasure Trucks’: Amazon’s Road to Omni Channel Retail Success?

Distribution Excellence, , , ,

While most brands and retailers are building and expanding their online stores, Amazon is investing in brick & mortar: a surprising update on Amazon’s omni channel retail status.

Let’s imagine for a moment that you’re running a billion-dollar brand. Last year’s net expansion of stores was negative (not counting a recent acquisition) and your share in online sales remains below 5%. Can you already feel how analysts and journalists rip you to shreds over your unconvincing omni channel retailing?

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Paul Smith Store in Berlin (photo: brand experts)

The Paul Smith Store in Berlin

Unique Retail, , , , , ,

Paul Smith has just opened his first Berlin store, and it wouldn’t be Paul Smith (or Berlin) if the store and its location were just ordinary.

Sir Paul Smith is a British designer of extraordinary fashion for men, women, children, and accessories. He has been for some 40 years, and in various collaborations he designs pretty much anything that can be designed. In an interview, he recently described himself as a ‘strange designer’. A few weeks ago, he opened his first small but nonetheless great Paul Smith store in Berlin. (more…)

Adidas Best Practice Brand Distribution Strategy

Best Practice, , , , , , ,

Aiming for the world’s most affluent consumers in highly competitive environments: Adidas’ ‘Top City Strategy 2020’ is at halfway, what is best practice and what can you learn for your business?

It’s widely known that consumer markets and brand distribution channels have fundamentally changed over the past 25 years in more ways than anticipated. Fact is, the internet as a distribution channel grew from 0 to commonly 8-15% of sales. But far more relevant from a commercial and strategic perspective is that many formerly emerging countries, especially China and countries in the Middle East and Central Europe, grew to 30-40%  of total sales and profits in lifestyle brand distribution.

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