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I s s u e 2 2 6 32 0 N o v 2 0 1 9
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News
Come together
Accent Group launches online marketplace to capitalise on $4 billion footwear market. p3
Feature
2020: The ones to watch
From Insta backlash to political empowerment, here are the trends that will shape fashion retail in 2020. p14
Analysis
The rise of social activists
As customers voice their opinions through social media, where does it leave retailers? p6
In this issue
Fashion for the peopleTommy Hilfiger on diversity, inclusivity and democracy.
2 insideretail.com.au
S ixty-eight-year-old designer Tommy Hilfiger may have been in the industry for 34 years with more than 2000 stores in 100 countries under his belt, but he still has plans to grow the
business even further in Australia.“We’re really energising our brand, we’re expanding our brand
worldwide but here in Australia, we have a very large and growing fanbase, so we’re bringing all the latest product here – a lot of new Tommy Jeans styles, a lot of new accessories, footwear, all the new fashion from collaborations with Lewis Hamilton and Zendaya,” Hilfiger said during a press conference in Sydney last Thursday.
“We’re really energising the brand in terms of opening new stores and really bringing the people in Australia the same exact energy and product that we have in Europe, the US and other parts of the world.”
Tommy Hilfiger has recently begun opening new bricks-and-mortar standalone stores from Maroochydore and Indooroopilly to Melbourne Emporium. The brand also recently launched an Australian e-commerce site and has been reportedly experiencing double-digit growth on our shores.
This December, Hilfiger will bring his Adaptive range to Australia, a collection aimed at people with special needs which was inspired by his 24-year-old daughter with autism. According to Hilfiger, his daughter struggles to use zippers and buttons, so he designed a range which features magnetic buttons, bungee cord closures and velcro to help people like her dress with style and ease.
“It’s an enormous market and what we found is one in every eight people has a disability. I have autistic children so I think it
enlightened me and opened my eyes to how difficult it has been for these children to dress themselves, blend in with everyone else and how desperately they’ve always wanted to look like their siblings, schoolmates or other people,” Hilfiger explained.
While diversity and size inclusivity are both hot topics in the fashion industry now, Hilfiger was one of the first designers to include a wide range of sizes in his clothing. During his show at Paris Fashion Week this year, where Hilfiger launched his collection with musician Zendaya, he was widely applauded for featuring 59 black models between the ages of 18 and 70 of varying body shapes and sizes.
“I’ve always wanted all different types of people wearing my clothes, all different sizes, ages, backgrounds. I really believe that inclusivity has been at the forefront of my ideals and my motivation from the very beginning,” Hilfiger said.
“You have to make samples in many different sizes. The world is made up of people from all different backgrounds, sizes, shapes and colours and I want to be a democratic brand and be able to dress everyone, not just six-foot models who weigh nothing.”
Part of the zeitgeistAnother notable achievement during Hilfiger’s long career was being one of the first to collaborate with hip-hop artists in the 90s, which he learned from Andy Warhol.
“[Warhol] loved pop culture and he wanted to surround himself by fashion, art, music, entertainment and sports stars – really relevant, cool people. I took that inspiration from him and incorporated the use of those people into the brand,” Hilfiger explained.
“Music has also been a big inspiration so I’ve surrounded myself with a lot of stars to represent the brand and become part of it. I gave [musician] Zendaya the power to design what she wanted to wear, I surrounded her with my design team, with sketchpads, sewing machines and anything she needed, it really came from her.”
Hilfiger also discussed his focus on continuing to evolve the business into a fashion tech brand by embracing AI and using social media to communicate with his customers. He also noted that live stream shopping will play an important role in the future, especially with the introduction of 5G.
“I want to be advanced in terms of social media and I want to have a true voice to the public that goes both ways. I don’t want to just be talking at the public, I want to be talking with the public,” he said.
“I think that’s the only way it should be for the future of any brand. But for my brand, it is a marriage between technology and fashion today. I think that’s another reason why we continue to disrupt and lead the way.”
Iconic fashion designer Tommy Hilfiger arrived on Australian soil for the first time last week and discussed diversity, inclusion and the future of retail. By Jo-Anne Hui-Miller
Tommy Hilfiger: “I want to be a democratic brand”
NEWS
Hilfiger was one of the first designers to embrace diversity.
IRW
3
F ootwear retail business Accent Group is bringing together all of its products under a single online banner - a new, destination footwear marketplace called Crèmm.
The marketplace, which launches on Wednesday, offers products from all of Accent Group’s vertical brands, such as Skechers and Merrell, as well as third-party brands sold through its Platypus, Hype DC and The Trybe retail chains.
It also offers international brands not currently available through Accent Group’s stores, and in the future, the company plans to bring new-to-Australia brands onto the platform that are seeking to establish a foothold in the local online market.
Accent Group chief executive Daniel Agostinelli said the marketplace would benefit the group’s overall brand and create a space where local and international footwear brands can co-exist.
“Accent Group has significant knowledge of the target consumer and existing retail infrastructure to help rapidly grow and elevate new technologies, which will be beneficial to the growth of Crèmm,” Agostinelli said.
The company reported $935.3 million in total sales in FY19, and a 22 per cent year on year increase in net profit after tax to $53.9 million.
Crèmm launches with over 50 brands and around 12,000 SKUs, though chief digital officer Mark Teperson told Inside Retail Weekly these figures are likely to double in the first year.
“Marketplaces are traditionally about price. We believe there’s an opportunity to disrupt the market by providing customers with a different approach, giving them access to the greatest brands in a curated marketplace with a heavy focus on content and an editorial lead,” Teperson said.
“Accent Group represents about 20-25 per cent of the total footwear sales in Australia, and looking at our internal data we knew we had a very low instance of internal customers buying across our sites online, which suggests that we have an opportunity for us to cross-pollinate and take a greater share of wallet in the category.”
Following Australia, Crèmm will likely launch in New Zealand, Teperson said, where Accent Group already has a strong e-commerce following.
Accent Group last week acquired women’s athleisure brand Stylerunner, vaulting the group into its first non-footwear-based category - though of a similar scope to the footwear market it operates within.
“The footwear market in Australia is roughly $4-5 billion in total, and the women’s athleisure market is about the same size,” Teperson said.
“So, we’ve just entered another $4-5 billion market, which is a terrific opportunity for us.”
And while Stylerunner will potentially see bricks-and-mortar stores launching as a result of the acquisition, Teperson is still assessing if it makes sense on Crèmm.
“We’re really excited to get into the space, but before we make any long-term decisions on that we’ll certainly take our time to assess it,” Teperson said.
Sneaker culture finds its footingGlobally, sneakers are a growing sub-section of the footwear market, worth an estimated US$58 billion ($86.2 billion) in 2018 according to industry intelligence company ReportBuyer. The sector is poised to be worth US$88 billion ($130.8 billion) by 2024.
With the growing popularity of what was once a niche subculture, more businesses than just Accent Group are eyeing the prize.
The Iconic launched SneakerHub earlier this year, bringing together thought leadership in the sneaker space with the ability to market and sell the sneakers on its platform.
“The rise of sneaker culture has accelerated releases from the biggest and best brands, while giving niche brands visibility and opportunity to reach cult status,” The Iconic chief marketing officer Alexander Meyer said.
“As a homegrown retail player, we have the advantage of truly understanding our customers to ensure we deliver them the best and most exclusive styles from our local and international brands.”
However, the sneaker customer is discerning and immersed in the culture enough to know a bad deal when they see it, according to Sneaker Freaker editor Simon Wood.
“A lot of kids are pretty sharp. You can’t sell them something where the message is off,” Wood previously told Inside Retail Weekly.
Footwear retail business Accent Group is going all in on online, launching a dedicated footwear marketplace called Crèmm to bring the best in sneakers under one banner. By Dean Blake
The Crèmm of the crop
Accent Group’s Crèmm brings all the shoe brands it sells in-store - and some it doesn’t - under one online banner.
NEWS
IRW
4 insideretail.com.au
26 - 27 FEB 2020 | Melbourne, Australia
CONTACT
EARLY BIRDTICKETS
START AT
$399
Join us at Inside Retail Live for a two-day conference with over 80+ international and local speakers.
retailweek.com.au/event/inside-retail-live
Vivian Blacher [email protected] 8224 8359
Drew GreenCEO, INDOCHINO
Kelly JamiesonCO-FOUNDER & MANAGING
DIRECTOR, THE EDIBLE BLOOMS
Gabrielle RouxHEAD OF RETAIL,
THE ACADEMY BRAND
Jon BirdCHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER,
AUSTRALIA & NEW ZEALAND, VMLY&R
Eric MorrisCEO, PAS GROUP
Richard FacioniCHAIRMAN, ALCEON
Nati HarpazMANAGING DIRECTOR,
CATCH GROUP
Vlad YakubsonGENERAL MANAGER, YD
Nick Foster [email protected] 82248366
5
Accent Group acquires Stylerunner, plans to open bricks-and-mortar stores
Lessons from the 20 coolest retailers
Major supply chain issues dominate Coles AGM
Fewer retailers expecting a merry Christmas: Deloitte
Inside Tommy Hilfiger’s winning strategy to democratise fashion
Caltex and Woolworths serve up fresh convenience offer
Wesfarmers expecting higher wages to impact FY20 earnings
What the first Amazon grocery store means for established retailers
Chemist Warehouse: “This is definitely our biggest online event”
The 5 Golden Rules of reducing your occupancy costs: Rule #1
This week’s top 10Our most read stories from the past week at insideretail.com.au.
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Comment of the week
“How many people in Australia have heard of Sainsbury’s and more impor-tantly, how many would pay extra? Very few, in my opinion.”
John - Coles partners with Sainsbury’s to build private label range
Senate to probe wage theft
Mecca called out for bullying
The Senate last week voted to launch an inquiry into wage theft, which could see company bosses forced to explain why they underpaid workers in a forum similar to last year’s Banking Royal Commission.
The inquiry, which is being headed up by Labor senator Alex Gallacher, aims to uncover the root causes of wage and super theft, what it means for the national economy and how to prevent it.
Senator Gallacher said he wouldn’t be “shy” about demanding answers from companies that have underpaid workers.
The inquiry comes on the heels of yet another revelation of underpayment in the retail sector. Woolworths last month admitted it had underpaid around 5700 staff up to $300 million.
While companies have long blamed underpayment on the complexity of Australia’s workplace laws, that argument doesn’t seem to carry the weight it once did.
The Fair Work Ombudsman in recent months has warned companies that self-disclosure will no longer be enough when it comes to wage theft, and the Morrison Government has started work on legislation to criminalise the worst offences.
The Morrison Government, however, is opposed to the Senate inquiry, describing it as just another “talkfest”.
Beauty giant Mecca has been accused of turning a blind eye to workplace bullying, according to media reports published on Monday.
The claims were first brought to light last month by the anonymous Instagram account @Esteelaundry and were backed up by others on social media, who said they had experienced bullying, harassment and favouritism while working at the beauty chain.
Mecca founder and owner Jo Horgan expressed dismay at the allegations and said they were being taken seriously. The retailer, which until recently had enjoyed a reputation as one of the best places to work in Australia, has appointed an external culture specialist to advise the company on what it can do better and established an anonymous workplace complaints hotline.
Workplace bullying is a growing problem, experts say. The University of South Australia recently released a framework to treat bullying as a health and safety issue, citing research that up to two-thirds of workers may experience unfair treatment on the job.
IRW
NEWS
26 - 27 FEB 2020 | Melbourne, Australia
CONTACT
EARLY BIRDTICKETS
START AT
$399
Join us at Inside Retail Live for a two-day conference with over 80+ international and local speakers.
retailweek.com.au/event/inside-retail-live
Vivian Blacher [email protected] 8224 8359
Drew GreenCEO, INDOCHINO
Kelly JamiesonCO-FOUNDER & MANAGING
DIRECTOR, THE EDIBLE BLOOMS
Gabrielle RouxHEAD OF RETAIL,
THE ACADEMY BRAND
Jon BirdCHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER,
AUSTRALIA & NEW ZEALAND, VMLY&R
Eric MorrisCEO, PAS GROUP
Richard FacioniCHAIRMAN, ALCEON
Nati HarpazMANAGING DIRECTOR,
CATCH GROUP
Vlad YakubsonGENERAL MANAGER, YD
Nick Foster [email protected] 82248366
6 insideretail.com.au
ANALYSIS
T here was a time in ‘the good old days’ when the toughest challenge in retail was to stock the shelves with merchandise that customers actually wanted to buy.
The challenge to get the buying right has not diminished, nor the need to maximise the appeal of the product ranges with effective merchandising.
But retail has become much more complex with many more challenges today, including meeting the changing expectations of customers.
Back in those good old days, the anecdotal thinking was that you might get up to five positive recommendations from a customer to other potential customers if your service at least met or, better, exceeded expectations.
On the flip side, if you disappointed or upset a customer they were likely to convey their bad experience to up to 20 other people.
The claims against Mecca were made via @Esteelaundry, an anonymous beauty collective on Instagram with 124,000 followers that aims to hold businesses accountable for their actions. A string of big cosmetic brands have been put in the spotlight including Loreal, Estee Lauder and Mac.
Oh for those days again when damage to the business was serious but not catastrophic.
Now social media allows an aggrieved customer to tell hundreds or even thousands of others about an experience that, from their viewpoint, was unsatisfactory – and the retailer has no idea who they need to give their side of the story.
The customer service experience, including responses to complaints or problems, is obviously more important than ever before, yet there is often a challenge in recruiting motivated, engaging and enthusiastic staff who are unsupervised for long periods.
The challenges of retail go well beyond the in-store experience notwithstanding that staff in stores are crucial to brand image, integrity and trust.
The challenge of meeting customer expectations is not just about having the right assortment of colour, size, quality and value pricepoints. Customers are increasingly interested in the environmental, social and ethical performance of businesses.
The social media that creates relatively low cost marketing opportunities also creates high cost brand damage threats as social activists develop campaigns targeting retailers behaving badly from their perspective.
Social activists are becoming more strident and they are having an influence on public opinion on issues as diverse as climate change, gambling, animal cruelty, Israeli politics, waste generation, product ingredients such as palm oil and working conditions in supplier factories overseas.
Some campaigns are generating legislative responses such as
the Modern Slavery Act 2018 passed by the Australian Parliament to require companies ensure that their operations and supply chains do not employ the use of slave labour.
Legislative changes dealing with waste generation, which are likely to include greater responsibility for retailers and suppliers on product packaging, are now being explored by state governments.
While the social activists are pushing for change through legislation, they are also using boycotts and shaming tactics to force retailers and other businesses to change their practices and policies.
Their influence and pressure for change is even extending to the boardroom through shareholder agitation, a factor in Woolworths and Coles looking to move away from the gaming industry.
Shareholders at Coles annual meeting urged the food retailer to quit the Business Council of Australia as JB Hi-Fi has done because of the industry lobby group’s stance on carbon emissions and climate change policy.
Coles directors also copped a serve on its supply chain governance and exploitation of workers employed by suppliers, as well as for the impact of restructuring initiatives on employees in its own business.
David Jones has certainly recognised the need to meet community as much as customer expectations in its business practices. In the past two years, David Jones has been pursuing environmental sustainability goals, aiming to become a zero-carbon and zero-waste department store. The retailer has convened meetings with environmental organisations and industry players such as World Wildlife Fund and the Green Building Council of Australia to review its supply chain processes.
Price is still important but more shoppers are now considering other factors in their buying decisions, including the social and environmental responsibility demonstrated by the retailer.
Claims of workplace bullying and discrimination against beauty giant Mecca have come to light through an anonymous group on social media, but where does social activism leave businesses? By Jared Dickson
The rise of social activism
IRW
While the social activists are pushing for change through legislation, they are also using boycotts and shaming tactics.
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Regulation slowing pot store openingsCanopy Growth Corp, Canada’s largest listed pot producer, is blaming government regulation of the cannabis industry for slow store openings and sluggish sales.
The company on Thursday released a quarterly report showing it had large surpluses of unsold marijuana and warned it could miss its revenue target of C$250 million for the fourth quarter. It has not revised its forecast, but analysts are expecting revenue of C$183.94 million, according to Refinitiv IBES data.
“We do not believe at this time that there will be sufficient points of retail sales in the near-term to unlock the necessary Q4 demand,” said Mark Zekulin, Canopy Growth Corp’s CEO.
The Canadian government legalised recreational weed last year, but Canopy said the market is about six to 12 months behind where it had expected it to be. Producers flooding the market with supply and the prevalence of illicit trade have led to steep price falls and unsold pot stacking up, Reuters reported.
Brexit to blame for sales drop, Asda says Asda’s gross profit rate and operating income both declined in the three months to September 30 and its comparable sales were down 0.5 per cent, due to uncertainty over Brexit.
The supermarket chain, which is the British arm of Walmart, said consumers had “little respite from political or economic uncertainty” in the quarter and that it showed in their spending.
The retailer said markdowns in clothing contributed to a lower gross profit rate, or margin, which, combined with increased operating expenses, led to a fall in operating income.
But while Asda said it was “ready and raring to go” for Christmas, the data should give British retailers pause for thought. Official data shows consumers continued to cut back on their spending in October, and all big four grocers - Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Morrisons - lost market share to German-owned discounters Aldi and Lidl over the last three months, according to Reuters.
Meanwhile, Brexit remains unresolved, despite Britain being due to leave the bloc by January 31, 2020. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has called a snap election for December 12 to try to break the deadlock.
Ecco India opens its first storeEcco has flagged the need to walk a fine line between communicating the quality of its shoes and leather goods and positioning its products for more price-sensitive customers in India, where it recently opened its first store.
“We see a strong demand from consumers who know what they want, and who appreciate the quality and consistent brand experience they get from Ecco,” said Steen Borgholm, Ecco’s CEO.
“We continuously work to understand our customers better, and we hope to be able to convey the passion of our employees and our brand story to them.”
Ecco’s first store is located at Gurgaon Ambience shopping mall in New Delhi, and it plans to open a further 20 concept stores in major cities over the next three years. The Danish brand has said it will also launch an online store in the first quarter of next year.
“We would like to take a long-term strategy to become a successful brand in India. That is why we will start with a small footprint to focus first on brand building so that the Indian consumer understands the brand’s narrative as to why the premium
price we charge is justified,” said Michel Krol, Ecco’s EVP for global sales.
Burberry shrugs off Hong Kong woesBurberry has delivered a 3 per cent increase in first-half revenue to 1.3 billion pounds, despite ongoing disruption from protests in Hong Kong, which is one of its largest international markets.
“We are pleased with our performance in the half, as we remain on track to deliver the first phase of our strategy,” said Marco Gobbetti, CEO of the luxury fashion company.
Burberry credited the strong performance to consumer demand for its new products and the vision of creative director Riccardo Tisci, whose collections now account for 70 per cent of the range.
“Tisci’s modern and edgy reimagining of Burberry’s classic and traditionally British fashion styles, with a heavy focus on the new monogram logo, have transformed the brand, helping it appeal to a younger audience, who will then carry their desire for the brand with them as they age,” said Chloe Collins, senior retail analyst at GlobalData.
Nike to pull products from AmazonNike has said it will stop selling products on Amazon, more than two years after it entered into a pilot program with the e-commerce giant to ensure stricter policing of its brand on the platform.
The US-based sportswear brand confirmed to various media outlets last week that it was pulling out of the program to focus on its direct-to-consumer business, which represents around 30 per cent of sales.
“As part of Nike’s focus on elevating consumer experiences through more direct, personal relationships, we have made the decision to complete our current pilot with Amazon Retail,” the company said in a statement.
Nike has been talking about growing its direct-to-consumer business since 2017, when it announced plans to reduce its network of 30,000 retail partners around the globe to around 40 differentiated retailers such as Nordstrom and Foot Locker.
Around the globe
NEWS
Nike is ending a two-year pilot program with Amazon to focus on direct-to-consumer sales.
IRW
8 insideretail.com.au
AROUND THE GLOBE
T here has been a flurry of activity in US and UK pharmacies, as chains capitalise on millennial digitisation and ageing boomers become the ‘front door’ for healthcare and
patient care. The number of pharmacies is increasing in many Western
markets, as is the expenditure on healthcare. In Australia, a 2018 Bankwest report on the pharmacy sector pegged annual healthcare expenditure growth at 9.5 per cent between 2007 and 2017.
An ageing demographic also means an increase in chronic diseases. A Bankwest report states the Australian chronic disease incidence rate increased 5 per cent in the past 10 years to 47 per cent. KPMG’s Healthcare 2030: Consumer at the Center report contends that consumers with five or more chronic conditions comprise 12 per cent of the US adult population, but account for 41 per cent of total healthcare spending.
On the other hand, millennials – now the largest consumer group in a number of markets – have a focus on prevention and on holistic wellbeing, enabled by digital tools such as predictive analytics, virtual healthcare, wearables and support services such as phone and live chat. They have a preference for retail healthcare and expect convenience. KPMG’s report indicated that 30 per cent of US millennials had used a walk-in clinic in the past 12 months, compared to only 14 per cent of baby boomers.
This means that there will be an increase in the need to manage chronic disease with convenient symptom monitoring tools, and that there’s a role for pharmacies to play as a local health centre for both preventive and chronic healthcare management.
The trends and demands of these two cohorts, along with the growth of the beauty segment, are driving some shifts toward pharmacy channels in healthcare provision. Pharmacies are responding with models that include digital and e-commerce partnerships and in-store patient care and health clinics.
The US: Patient care and digitisationIn the US, a number of the large drugstore chains are investing in new technology and digital healthcare. CVS Health plans to spend more than US$2 billion over two years, with Walgreens spending US$1 billion.
Some of the developments in the past 12 months may have been further motivated by the entry of Amazon into the healthcare market with its US$753 milliion acquisition of digital pharmacy PillPack.com in 2018, bolstered by its network of more than 88 Whole Foods stores.
CVS: The new front door to healthCVS operates more than 1,100 MinuteClinics, walk-in stations
staffed by nurses, which focus on basic services such as cold and flu care and immunisations.
Now CVS is upping the patient-care ante with the launch of HealthHUBs, five of which are piloting in Houston, Texas with plans for 1,500 locations US-wide by 2021.
HealthHUBs devote 20 per cent of store space to health-related services. A care concierge guides consumers to services, helps them understand their health insurance and how to operate various health and wellness devices including health apps and games. Hubs are staffed by nurses and physicians’ assistants and offer chronic disease management with services such as blood testing and sleep apnoea assessments.
The hubs also offer insurance as a result of CVS’ acquisition of health insurer Aetna, and medical equipment such as walkers. Wellness rooms allow CVS employees to host fitness and nutrition classes and provide insurance education
Walgreens pursues partnershipsAbout 400 Walgreens stores include retail clinics providing treatment of minor injuries and illnesses and consultative advice on preventive methods and management of ongoing health conditions.
The chain has recently partnered with a number of primary and urgent care providers. LabCorp is providing in-store bloodwork and blood tests, with 600 LabCorp patient service centres planned by 2022. Walgreens also deals with Verily Life Sciences (a division of Google parent Alphabet Inc), and with cosmetics retailer Birchbox.
Walgreens is working with Microsoft to design digital health corners in-store for customers with chronic health issues, beginning with a 12-store pilot project.
The UK: Patient care plus experiential beautyRecently, the UK government has been running consumer communications campaigns to position pharmacies as the first port of call for patient health.
In-store patient care isn’t a new idea in the UK. In 2014, AS Watson-owned Superdrug – a health and beauty chain with a pharmacy offer similar to Priceline in Australia – opened its first wellbeing pharmacy staffed by two pharmacists and a healthcare nurse. Specialist nurses are also on hand to speak to patients and carers about end-of-life care. Services include blood pressure checks, travel advice and vaccinations and HIV testing. About 70 per cent of the stock in the store is healthcare products, compared to around 30 per cent in other Superdrug stores. The wellbeing offer is designed to realign the value and fashion beauty pharmacy as a healthcare destination as well and the concept has been extended to several dozen stores.
A shot in the arm for pharmacyA convergence of consumer, digital and market trends is driving the evolution of pharmacies in the UK and US. By Norrelle Goldring
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Unashamedly a beauty pharmacy, international health and wellbeing chain, Holland and Barrett in 2017 opened its largest natural beauty store in the UK. The ‘More Store’ offers products such as snail slime anti-ageing cream, charcoal face masks and seahorse plankton face oils.
But now an array of other experiences are on offer. Shoppers can make their own natural body scrubs. There are protein shake, cereal, nut and pick ‘n’ mix stations, a skin and weight diagnostic centre and even vegan nail bar. The store features under-the-radar ethical beauty brands to give customers alternative options to products from large corporate brands. The business also claims to be the first UK store to ban parabens, sodium lauryl sulfates and micro plastics from beauty products.
In June this year, pharmacy behemoth Boots opened a new
concept store at London’s Covent Garden. Designed by Dalziel and Pow, it features 36 wellness brands with more than 300 new lines including sustainable toiletries and eco-friendly sanitary protection. An Innovation Studio showcases health and fitness technology such as FitBit, and eco brand Beauty Kitchen customers can refill their empties with its natural skincare products.
Other new-to-store beauty inclusions include a Mask Bar, Josh Wood Colour consultations and a skincare zone ranging edgy brands such as BYBI and Skyn Iceland. A dedicated area features trends and live demonstrations by store staff and a zone for customers to share their purchases via Instagram.
Beyond beauty, the Covent Garden store’s pharmacy area has been revamped with seating and carpets and now offers UTI testing and treatment which allows pharmacists to prescribe antibiotics and a first-to-UK skin scanning service. Customers can refill water bottles at a Rehydration Station, and the store is the first for Boots in which single use plastic bags are replaced with unbleached paper bags.
In Australia, given the constrained profit margins driven by supermarket and discount pharmacy competition, declining revenue from the PBS, and the growth of cosmetics and toiletries, it remains to be seen what type of form and scale innovation in the pharmacy channel takes here.
Norrelle has 20 years’ experience in retail, category, channel and customer, working in and with global retailers, manufacturers and consulting houses. Contact Norrelle on 0411735190 or email [email protected]
IRW
AROUND THE GLOBE
Pharmacies are upping the ante when it comes to catering to customers these days.
About 400 Walgreens stores include retail clinics providing treatment of minor injuries and illnesses and consultative advice.
10 insideretail.com.au
Q&A
Inside Retail Weekly: How did ABA Labels begin?Paul El-Sibai: It started life from our other business called Stitch Apparel, which makes products for other retailers as white label products – we design and produce in factories and put other retailers’ labels on it.
Three years ago we thought, ‘You know what? This is all well and good, we have the resources to bring brands to market, but we want to do it differently.’ We thought fashion should be more accountable, more open and have those barriers broken down. So we thought, ‘Let’s try [to launch] a brand and see if we can be more socially responsible, let’s see if we can harness what was already an ethical supply chain (which we had from Stitch) and see if we can do this for ourselves.’
One brand became two, two became three, three became six, six will soon be eight.
IRW: Why did you decide to apply for B Corp certification?PE: I’ve been in fashion for a long time with a lot of different ventures, but this is the first one that was ‘Let’s do good’. Fashion has got to do better in a lot of different aspects and for us, it was also seeing the writing on the wall.
So even two years ago, we wondered if we could get B Corp, but also be what people typically call fast fashion. We prefer to call ourselves trend fashion, but we’re fast fashion in the sense that
there are a lot of styles, they’re fast to make and at an accessible price point. [A lot of people said] you can’t be a good [business] if you’re going to be fast. So we said, ‘Ok, let’s see if we can prove it.’ We got B Corp a few weeks ago.
It was a two-year process for us to get certification but seeing it and understanding it, I’d say that for most businesses, if they wanted it and were willing to make changes, they could do it.
IRW: What did you have to do in the business to get that certification?PE: For us, it’s more about the measurability. From day dot, we were really measuring a lot of the inputs, putting different governance structures in place and showing what they achieved. We have a CSR committee that [set out all] these goals. The business had to be profitable and it needed 200 per cent growth year-on-year. We can’t do that at the expense of all the good that a business can do if it’s done right.
Then the actual process was showing those steps, our progress and that we were measuring our energy consumption and its reduction, as well as our carbon footprint and the steps we were taking to not just reduce it, but negate it.
We partnered with a firm called Greenfleet. Every month, we plant 187 native trees in Australia – it’s a whole reforestation program through an accredited organisation that says we’re not just carbon
Launched in 2016, ABA Labels is a collective of eight brands which combines fast fashion with social responsibility and recently received B Corp certification. Here, founder Paul El-Sibai discusses the reality of running a sustainable business, size inclusivity and global expansion. Interview by Jo-Anne Hui-Miller
From the source: Paul El-Sibai, Australian Brand Alliance Labels
11
neutral, but carbon positive, baby! How good is that?It’s all those things – and a ton more – for B Lab to then say, ‘OK,
your business is profit-for-purpose, you’re bringing good to the world, not just your employees and your bottom line.’
IRW: How have you been able to make fast fashion sustainable?PE: The first thing we decided was that the business would have a laser-like focus on our consumption of inputs and waste minimisation. We only really produce what we think customers absolutely need. Fashion is really notorious for producing lots of garments: ‘We’re not sure what the customer wants, we’re not sure how much we’re going to need, but we don’t want to not have enough so we produce lots.’ Eight-five per cent of what fashion produces goes into landfill.
We put a lot of tech behind understanding the customer, what she wants, what will resonate and understanding the lifecycle of products. We fed this into a pipeline of capacity in terms of production to only produce particular styles or particular volumes, particular size breaks, particular colours for a particular month or day of week. We also set up the factories so they could produce super low minimums in China. We have factories that can produce as low as 60 units. We built the infrastructure to work with what’s most ethical and sustainable and tried to maximise how taking advantage of that infrastructure.
We brought in another third party auditing and verification body
called Greenbiz. Our whole Australian operation is gold Greenbiz-certified. You only get that if you’re at the very top of environmental approach for your operations. Everything is LED lights.
We completely replaced the tapware so it’s slowflow. We put water filters in every tap, so you can bring water bottles from home. No [disposable] coffee cups are allowed in the office. We only source green power to power our whole Australian operations. Does it cost a bit more? Maybe. Does it mean we do the right thing? Absolutely.
ABA Labels has aimed to be sustainable and profitable from the day it launched.
Q&A
►
What’s the point in making a good-for-the-world dress that nobody can buy?
12 insideretail.com.au
When you have things like B Corp that verify what you’re doing, you can sing about it and your customers can further align with you because they can share those ideals with you. They don’t have to feel guilty about buying that dress, because we didn’t contribute negatively to produce and sell it to them.
We also do cool stuff where we support lots of different charities. Every month, we make donations to an indigenous education fund in
Australia, we also support a fund in China which provides education to children in rural communities. We operate in China and Australia so we give back. We provide assistance to Mission Australia, Dress for Success and the Salvation Army.
We’ve got B Corp, we’re part of 1% for the Planet, we’ve got Greenbiz, we have SMETA – name it and we’ve got it. There ain’t no greenwashing here, baby.
IRW: Greenwashing is a major bugbear for a lot of people in the industry these days. PE: Sustainability means different things to different people and there are a lot of mixed batches of information out there on what’s good and what’s not. Even for us to understand, it’s a challenge.
A year ago, different brands were bringing out organic cotton tees. And we thought, ‘Is it good?’ People sing about the fact that it’s Australian organic cotton, but you’ve got the other side of the conversation – should Australia be growing cotton at all when we have a water consumption issue?
Some people say you shouldn’t use polyester, but then others will say it lasts longer, washes better, it’s more durable. If it means a garment lasts longer and if you make something that is timeless and make it well, is it any less sustainable?
We consciously said that whatever we produce has to be accessible in price. You could grab one of these items and for a like-for-like quality comparison, the dresses on that rail would sell in excess of $150 at another brand. We sell that for $139. We can be accessible in prices and it doesn’t have to be nasty.
We’ve been completely transparent, we started a business wanting to be good and we want that to be as accessible to as many people as possible. What’s the point in making a good-for-the-world dress that nobody can buy?
IRW: Tell me about that the tech that goes into understanding your customers.PE: We have a lot of different tech in the business. We take the time to really understand what’s going on in social media, so we understand the customer and what the customers are aspiring to. It allows us to make really informed views on the type of product that customers probably want, then the designers get that briefed in and design to that. We don’t need to design 4000 things to get the 10 best ones. We strip out all that waste.
We see ourselves as a blend between fashion and tech. We use the tech to understand the customer and give the customer what they want, then the sales look after themselves.
We have teams of garment techs to make sure the garments fit really well. That’s what’s seen us grow, because the percentage of repeat customers is off-the-charts, it’s crazy.
IRW: Do each of your brands have e-commerce sites?PE: They all have e-commerce sites but the thing that makes us super unique is we partner with the lead distributor in the country, so say, The Iconic, and we do a mix of operating on their marketplace platforms as well as the indent side of the business.
We have some product selling on their marketplace platform, but we distribute from our distribution centre, so we do direct-to-consumer. We do it in Australia that way, in Southeast Asia in Zalora that way and we’re in talks with another distribution partner that does all of Europe. We’re very much about finding the right balance with the right partner and distributing it with a mix of both methods.
We’ve consciously decided not to do any bricks-and mortar, because we just can’t see the sense in it from the inputs-to-outputs point-of-view. We think it’s wasteful to operate stores, so
El-Sibai: “There ain’t no greenwashing here, baby.”
Q&A
13
the best way to have efficiency in the business is to centralise your distribution platforms, scale them and go from there.
IRW: Size inclusivity is important to you, isn’t it?PE: Inclusivity means you have to take into account everybody in terms of tastes, and size. All the products must go from a six to an 18 and all the brands do have a curve brand as well.
But what we’re finding is that over the year, the demand isn’t there. Again it’s about balancing what we produce with what we can sell. A lot of the pieces will only be produced for an 18, not because we don’t think it’ll look good, but the tech tells us the demand is not there. We don’t want to be wasteful in what we produce, so we walk that line. But we absolutely have that full size set.
It’s another reason why we won’t go down bricks-and-mortar. If you want to be inclusive in size, you need a really big store because
you have to carry all the stock. Our business can be inclusive and go up to a 24, which we’ve done, because we’re putting things in a warehouse and if you order it, we’ll ship it.
IRW: Do you guys use different fit models?PE: We have lots of fit models. We’re always looking at not just what customers are telling us, but how they’re shopping. We look at things like return rates and their reasons and we feed that back in. The team is constantly tweaking how things should fit. For our jeans, we might put them through four different fit models before we decide that for a particular brand and jean, it’s going to be fit in this particular way.
You have to do all that to keep the customer happy, but if she’s happy, stuff gets sold, it doesn’t get returned and there’s less waste.
Q&A
IRW
Using technology to understand the customer plays a major role in what the team designs each season.
14 insideretail.com.au
H ere we are on the verge of a new decade, closing out one that has been shaped by huge technological advances and near-constant industry innovation. Today major new
developments divide fashion retail’s winners from its losers – the pace of change in the industry has never been faster.
Let’s take a look at the seven trends that will define fashion retail, and shape its headlines, in 2020.
1. Content and commerce get smartOver the last few years, we’ve seen D2Cs like Casper move in on thepublisher role, as well as publishers/content experts like Glossier,Man Repeller and High Snobiety enter the retail space. In 2020 we can expect to see more brands pursue tastemaker status through smart, long-game content that doesn’t aim straight for conversion.
The one to watch is Outdoor Voices’ content platform, TheRecreationalist, which launched in July to foster connections with the active community. This strategy is about forging greater loyalty and emotional links with consumers, and moving customer acquisition away from external platforms, like Instagram, onto owned platforms. Of course, content doesn’t have to mean written articles – some retailers, including Matches, have launched podcasts, wherelistenership is steeply rising.
Content is a huge investment for a brand or retailer, often relying
on skills that aren’t yet in-house and can be hugely distracting if notdone well. Brands that aren’t able to invest in their own tastemakercontent should consider an affiliate program so that contentspecialists are incentivised to showcase the brand for you.
2. Second-hand stigma is overResale, specifically luxury, is booming, growing faster than otherfashion retail over the last three years. It’s set to grow its currentworth (US$24 billion) to US$51 billion in the next two years, according to GlobalData. In the UK, one in three under 24-year-olds use resale site Depop. Adding steam to the growth is the Chinese market embracing resale, as the local stigma around pre-owned fades. After decades of growth, there’s a surplus of high-value items flooding the Chinese second-hand market.
In 2020, the Australian market, where sustainability values are high, will up its involvement. Owning their resale market is critical forbrands. How can you tap into the entire lifecycle of your products?Even if you don’t have a platform in which to host resale yourself,you can engage with partners, and closely track resale value anddemand – and feed your findings there back into your first-hand products. 3. Making practical progress on sustainabilitySuddenly we’re at 2020, and many governmental and brand CSR
As the end of 2019 draws near and we gear up for the festive season, what does the year ahead bring for the fashion sector? Here are the trends to keep an eye on. By Katie Smith
The ones to watch in 2020
FEATURE
15
The ones to watch in 2020
goals around the globe have not been met. This is the year whensustainability will need to get real. As Gen Z matures and grows itsdisposable income, they will be demanding greater sustainability from the brands they engage with. It’s time to start preparing for these consumers, across all types of retail.
In 2020, more retailers will be looking at the practical steps tobecoming sustainable long term, starting with packaging andfabrication.
4. Intuitive filteringEnormous online assortments don’t cut it any more. The thrill of thehunt has faded and discovering a small new brand, with only a fewitems, garners more kudos than dragging something out of the depths of a 10,000 SKU catalogue retailer.
Retailers need to get smarter with image- and voice-activated search in 2020. They also need to make products that customers discover on social platforms more easily discoverable and shoppable. Now social algorithms have shifted and the social internet is more fragmented, retailers need to ruthlessly seek out the friction points in the customer journey.
5. Political empowermentInternationally, the year ahead will be a political hotbed, with theUS 2020 elections, Brexit’s likely outcome and the New Zealand general election. Political unrest in the 2016 elections contributed to the vocalising of #MeToo and launched the Women’s March. That conversation is now even more prevalent – and solid, online, female-centric communities have grown.
In the year ahead, there will be key moments and messages which matter deeply to your customers. Stay tapped into what’s happening, not just in the places you receive your news, but exist where they are too – this isn’t about merch opportunities, this is about being a brand that aligns with its customers’ values. You don’t have to speak out as a brand – but understanding consumer opinions and the context they operate within helps you prepare for the future of your brand.
6. Insta-backlash hitsInstagram has been fashion retail’s darling over the last four years.but the veil could fall in 2020 as younger consumers turn away fromhyper-curated content. Already Instagram is seeing a big shift awayfrom the feed, towards its ad-hoc Stories, which are more temporal. In 2020, expect to see more consumers come off the platform, and instead invest their time in TikTok, the US$75 billion short-form video platform which already has 1.4 million monthly active Australian users.
Brands and retailers need to get familiar with the tropes there, and engage with the challenge-based content young consumers are creating.
The industry should also keep one eye firmly fixed on the boominge-sports and gaming market, especially through platforms like Twitch. Fashion brands have already started tapping this lucrative opportunity – Louis Vuitton has just partnered with League of Legends and Puma has Cloud9 e-sports team merch.
7. Cross-industry hybridsWith the Australian market being so lifestyle-focused, there is agrowing opportunity for fashion brands to partner with the localhospitality industry, which is globally revered.
Earlier this year Muji opened its first hotel in Japan, followed byChina. These destinations tap into millennials’ boutique travel needs
and offer a fully immersive way to experience the brand’s productsand styling.
It’s interesting to see a mass-market retailer get in on this game – luxury brands spotted the opportunity a while back, with the Palazzo Versace hotel on the Gold Coast and the Diane Von Furstenberg suite at Claridges, London, and the Dior suite at The Regis, New York.
With The Calile in Brisbane opened a year ago, Australia’s hoteldesign is once again on the global stage. Local brands should look to partner with these beautiful spaces and not just in their retailstores – in the products their guests and customers use and theapparel their staff wear.
The opportunity here is for homewares, textiles and fashion brands to align with some of the biggest tastemakers in food, beverage and hospitality. Attica restaurant recently started serving its water out of Dinosaur Designs products, leading to the Eater.com wheadline “These Beautiful Cups Are Only Upstaged by the Restaurant That Uses Them”.
Here’s to a new decade in fashion retail driven by agility,technical-savviness and extreme customer-centricity. It’s going to be one hell of a ride.
Katie Smith is a retail and trends strategist. Her research is used by brands and retailers on four continents to build out effective product offerings and connect with their consumers. Contact: [email protected]
IRW
FEATURE
The newly-opened Hotel Chadstone blends hospitality with retail.
16 insideretail.com.au
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The first section of Karrinyup Shopping Centre’s redevelopment will be unveiled on November 21.
The launch of the first section, the new-look Fashion Loop at Karrinyup, will kick off with a four-day fashion and beauty event which will be attended by fashion icon Elle Ferguson.
Tim Richards, Karrinyup Shopping Centre manager, said the launch is an exciting milestone in the shopping centre’s major redevelopment and said he was thrilled to be welcoming Elle Ferguson to the centre as part of the celebrations.
“We hope customers will enjoy discovering the new retailers, revamped locations for existing stores and all the activities we have
planned, this is just a small taste of the exciting things to come as the centre continues to evolve,” Richards said.
The launch will include a number of installations, free pop-up activities, fashion experiences and in-store offers.
The centre will also open its new multi-deck car park with 700 bays and a parking guidance system as well as a refurbishment of Australian retailer Big W. The opening of the first section of the Fashion Loop is the first unveiling of the reimagined centre, with the entire development on target to be completed at the end of 2021.
Upon completion, the centre will offer approximately 290 specialty stores.
Mirvac Retail has launched its new dining and entertainment precinct at Brisbane’s iconic shopping centre Toombul.
Upstairs, the retail landlord’s $43 million investment, covers 4500sqm and transforms the historic 51-year-old centre into a revitalised urban precinct.
This summer, Upstairs will feature 10 new dining offers, sourcing both existing Brisbane operators and new-to-Queensland concepts. Offers include Dapple + Waver, Niku Ramen, Little
Red Dumpling, Sushi HYO, Espresso Max, II Gancio, Hello Harry, Jackpot Dining and Phat Elephant along with perennial favourite Max Brenner.
The new precinct’s décor includes a colour-changing neon playground complete with swings and slides, street-art murals, industrial indoor and outdoor spaces wrapped around a feature fountain.
Marrickville Metro unveiled its new one-stop-drop recycling wall during the National Recycling Week last week.
The AMP-managed centre has put up the wall to make it easier for Australians who want to recycle difficult items, such as beauty packaging, soft plastics, batteries, mobile phones and coffee capsules.
The new #MetroRecycleWall also includes an area that allows customers to borrow a reusable bag to do their shopping. Once done, they can return the bag to the recycling wall for other customers to use.
According to AMP Capital, the #MetroRecycleWall is part of the centre’s campaign to support the community to go greener.
Karrinyup opens doors to new-look Fashion Loop
New dining precinct at Toombul
AMP’s Marrickville goes green
IRW
Upstairs is the new dining and entertainment precinct at Brisbane’s Toombul shopping centre.
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“Woman to watch” joins Nike boardFootwear retailer Nike has appointed the CEO of JP Morgan Chase & Co’s Chase Consumer Banking division to its board of directors.
Thasunda Brown Duckett (pictured) oversees a banking network with more than US$800 billion in deposits and investments and 50,000 employees.
She previously held the role of CEO of Chase Auto Finance, bank provider of auto financing.
Mark Parker, chairman, president and CEO of Nike, said Duckett’s expertise in leading digital and physical transformation in retail banking will be invaluable in helping Nike further deepen consumer relationships.
“She is a dynamic and forward-thinking leader, and we are delighted that she has joined the board,” Parker said.
Prior to joining JPMorgan Chase & Co, Duckett was a director of Emerging Markets at Fannie Mae and was named one of Fortune’s Most Powerful Women to Watch and one of the Most Powerful Women in Banking by American Banker magazine.
AuMake strengthens board amid restructureAuMake on Monday announced the retirement of its founding directors, Gang Xu and Lingye Zheng, effective immediately, and the appointment of Oliver Horn and Jacky Yang as non-executive director and executive director, respectively.
The changes come amid a restructure of the ASX-listed retailer, which is known for connecting Australian and New Zealand brands with Chinese customers through daigous, or personal shoppers.
The company recently made external appointments to the newly created roles of group human resources manager and group marketing manager, and will soon make an appointment to the newly created role of group operations manager.
On Monday, it announced that Peter Zhao (pictured), the company’s CFO, will transition to the role of group general manager effective January 1, 2020. He will be responsible for driving strategy execution and organisational improvement.
Stylerunner co-founder joins Accent GroupStylerunner co-founder and CEO Julie Stevanja (pictured) has joined Accent Group, the company that owns The Athlete’s Foot, Platypus and Hype DC retail chains, which acquired her online activewear business out of voluntary administration last week.
Stevanja will lead the Stylerunner business at Accent Group going forward and will report to the company’s chief digital officer, Mark Teperson.
A former investment banker, Stevanja founded Stylerunner in 2012 with her twin sister Sali Sasi, who left the business in 2015.
Offering fashion-forward sportswear and shoes, Stylerunner benefited from the booming athleisure market and was a $30 million business in 2017, according to the Australian Financial Review, which put Stevanja on its Young Rich List that year.
The CEO gained other industry accolades, including being named Young Retail Entrepreneur of the Year at the World Retail Awards in 2016, and featuring on Internet Retailing’s Top 50 People in E-Commerce lists in 2016 and 2017.
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IRW
Appointments
he roots of men’s clothing company Rodd & Gunn go back to 1946, when the brand’s English
Pointer logo was first used on a boutique line of New Zealand-made shirts.
Since those stylish yet humble beginnings, the heritage brand has travelled a long way, cleverly developing an integrated e-commerce, retail and wholesale business model, to build brand equity and grow its global market share.
In August Rodd & Gunn opened one of its signature ‘lodges’ in London’s Mayfair district, cementing its presence in the region and paving the way for further expansion into Europe.
Parallel to the UK, the retailer continues to grow its ANZ and North American footprint, opening new stores, expanding its wholesale client base and opening concessions with leading department stores.
Brand integrity and long-term focus The impressive core of Rodd & Gunn’s story is the retailer’s unwavering strategic
intent and integrity. At no point has the brand ever waivered from its promise to deliver uncompromising quality. Its local and international expansion has been steady, savvy and methodical. Its customer focus has been relentless.
All this means that while customer engagement may be the buzz phrase of the moment, it’s nothing new for Rodd & Gunn. Exceptional in-store experiences and a strong loyalty program have complemented the brand’s high-quality merchandise offer from the start.
Back in 2010, recognising the need for a more powerful loyalty system and to streamline the efficiency of its retail operations across Australia and New Zealand, Rodd & Gunn partnered with Retail Directions to assist with the transformation.
Rodd & Gunn Managing Director Mike Beagley commented that “at this critical juncture in the history of the brand, Retail Directions gave us a robust retail software platform that brought all parts of the business together and equipped us with a sophisticated customer management, promotions and loyalty toolset.”
Going globalWhen the opportunity to start wholesaling and then retailing in the US became a reality in 2011, Rodd & Gunn’s strategic nous and customer passion meant that it already had both: the right range and the right technology partner in the bag.
When commenting about Retail Directions, Rodd & Gunn’s GM of IT Wes King said that “having all channels running on a single system is fundamental for our wholesale and retail operations. It was an ace up our sleeve to already have an agile retail platform and collaborative technology partner that enables us to handle the complexity of an expanding global omni-channel operation.”
Rodd & Gunn now trades from more than 100 stores across four markets, including Australia, New Zealand, the US and the UK.
retaildirections.com
The quiet power of relentless strategyRodd & Gunn: A New Zealand heritage brand going globalBy Justin Cohen
PEOPLE
19
he roots of men’s clothing company Rodd & Gunn go back to 1946, when the brand’s English
Pointer logo was first used on a boutique line of New Zealand-made shirts.
Since those stylish yet humble beginnings, the heritage brand has travelled a long way, cleverly developing an integrated e-commerce, retail and wholesale business model, to build brand equity and grow its global market share.
In August Rodd & Gunn opened one of its signature ‘lodges’ in London’s Mayfair district, cementing its presence in the region and paving the way for further expansion into Europe.
Parallel to the UK, the retailer continues to grow its ANZ and North American footprint, opening new stores, expanding its wholesale client base and opening concessions with leading department stores.
Brand integrity and long-term focus The impressive core of Rodd & Gunn’s story is the retailer’s unwavering strategic
intent and integrity. At no point has the brand ever waivered from its promise to deliver uncompromising quality. Its local and international expansion has been steady, savvy and methodical. Its customer focus has been relentless.
All this means that while customer engagement may be the buzz phrase of the moment, it’s nothing new for Rodd & Gunn. Exceptional in-store experiences and a strong loyalty program have complemented the brand’s high-quality merchandise offer from the start.
Back in 2010, recognising the need for a more powerful loyalty system and to streamline the efficiency of its retail operations across Australia and New Zealand, Rodd & Gunn partnered with Retail Directions to assist with the transformation.
Rodd & Gunn Managing Director Mike Beagley commented that “at this critical juncture in the history of the brand, Retail Directions gave us a robust retail software platform that brought all parts of the business together and equipped us with a sophisticated customer management, promotions and loyalty toolset.”
Going globalWhen the opportunity to start wholesaling and then retailing in the US became a reality in 2011, Rodd & Gunn’s strategic nous and customer passion meant that it already had both: the right range and the right technology partner in the bag.
When commenting about Retail Directions, Rodd & Gunn’s GM of IT Wes King said that “having all channels running on a single system is fundamental for our wholesale and retail operations. It was an ace up our sleeve to already have an agile retail platform and collaborative technology partner that enables us to handle the complexity of an expanding global omni-channel operation.”
Rodd & Gunn now trades from more than 100 stores across four markets, including Australia, New Zealand, the US and the UK.
retaildirections.com
The quiet power of relentless strategyRodd & Gunn: A New Zealand heritage brand going globalBy Justin Cohen
SPONSORED
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