DIRECT COMMERCE PROFILE John Mills
Chairman & Director at JML (John Mills Limited)
John founded his business back in 1986 and despite having Ken Daly as CEO and a great team of people in place, he is still active in the business today. It is clear from listening to him present and chatting about his business that he loves it. When John founded JML in his home’s
basement, taking what was his forte – identifying great consumer products and selling them face to face with demonstrations and a great close. He recruited a small team of skilled demonstrator/pitchers who’d work the large consumer shows, like Ideal Home, as well as from stands in stores. Everyone will, at some time, have seen
the high energy pitchers and demonstrators drawing in, mesmerising and selling to the crowds. (the Whole Foods store in Kensington often has demonstrators for juicers and food processors in its entrance and similar demonstrations can be found in large department stores). Tese professional demonstrators are very hard to ignore. As most retailers have now embraced a self service environment, with scant customer support on offer, the JML proposition is a very compelling option. Cleverly, what John recognised is that a single polished pitch, painstakingly filmed, could be working simultaneously in hundreds of locations which would be pretty much impossible to achieve with an “in person” team. It was his drive that brought this to reality and was not without a fair few problems along the way. John set about “automating” the demonstration and pitch by filming the best and then persuading retailers to stock the promoted product and provide the end of aisle space and connection for a TV monitor & video player. Tis would enable the promotion to run continuously, encouraging the consumer to stop, watch and put the product into their shopping basket. All pretty revolutionary at the time and not easy given that the technology was very expensive, it was cumbersome, often unreliable and very basic when compared with what we have today. In the early days malfunctioning equipment was one of the largest problems. Te mantra “as seen on TV” was very
powerful then and remains so now as the perception remains that TV is an expensive advertising medium and a product is advertised TV has to be good. Understandably it wasn’t long before John
and his team persuaded multiple retailers like Boots, Homebase, Wilkinson and ASDA to take JML product. What they found, in the main, was that the revenues generated from the space taken by JML’s product and screen vastly exceeded what went before it. With a steady stream of new products to offer, JML’s now focuses it efforts on persuading its large retail clients to take more lines on a permanent basis as this has proved to be more effective than trying to recruit more retailers. It also means that the retailers on board have a greater degree of exclusivity for the JML products and this sits well with them. Experienced merchants know that 25
million ironing board covers do not get sold by accident. Tis example is powerful - as John says, no one sets out on a mission to buy an ironing board cover, even though many know it to be an item they really should think about replacing. A JML “on screen”, in store pitch suggests the need and does the work to close the sale for the retailer. Pricing isn’t always that competitive, it doesn’t need to be. Consumers reach for the JML product because of the pitch. Te JML effect is not confined to the UK, the company is successful in over 70 countries and is selling 15 million products every year. What works here in the UK travels well into other markets. Tere have been retail chains which, at one time or another, have decided to end their relationships with JML only to return months later having seen category and space sales ratios plummet without the in-store screen promotion. Tere are, it has to be said, several JML imitators in the market but the ones we’ve seen lack the polish that JML applies to its in store screen content and have tended to be in local stores rather than in multiples. . Unsurprisingly John quickly moved
into DRTV and the business has its own TV shopping channel which has a strong following. It also runs ads on the channels driving customers to its retail stockists as well as provides customised content for these stockists’ websites to enable them to generate more sales. Having its own studio facilities means that JML can continuously film new product demonstrations as well as produce them in multiple language versions and different editions. Of course,
not every product which JML’s buyers find is the runaway success they hope it to be. Of around fifty new products launch-tested by JML each year, as few as six are rolled out permanently. As John says, it is all down to good sourcing and working with manufacturers to refine products and give them the JML USP. Te buying team also sees a constant stream of product designers and “would be” suppliers as the next big thing could literally be waiting for them in reception. Te business is truly multichannel as,
it sells on line, sells via TV, wholesales to retailers, and also deploys catalogues which provide a well crafted snapshot into the wider JML offering. Catalogues are routinely included with product despatches and generate significant incremental orders. John’s business is on target to achieve
sales of more than £100 million this year and is intent on developing greater international sales as well as focusing on its own ecommerce offering. JML currently sells via eBay and is exploring other marketplaces but knows there is significant potential to do more.
Not bad going for a business started from
home. John has a CEO in place as part of his senior management team but remains very much active himself. His son Pete (Mills) cut his teeth in the family business but now heads Te Broadcast House, the TV division of Te Specialist Works. Pete is also a newly elected DCA co-chair of the trade associations TV Council.
Direct Commerce |
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