Department Store Buyer

“Wilkinson did what Woolworths didn’t do; they found themselves a whole new set of customers and made themselves relevant and applicable to them.”

customer group at an early stage and provide essential items all year round. This would lead to a commit- ted customer group and secure repeat business. Wilkinson put together its mar- keting strategy. The aim was to ensure the student population began shopping at Wilkinson stores early in their student experience. This would help to maintain their customer loyalty to Wilkinson throughout their student years and also to develop them as future customers after university. To ensure it happened in the right way, Wilkinson put together a well thought through marketing campaign specifically designed to appeal to university students. It exhibited at fresher’s fairs giving out free goody bags with sample products, it sent flyers to student halls prior to students arriving, chose advertisements with a fun theme, and started offering dis- counts of 15 per cent with the

first purchase using the online store, and it started providing free wall-planners.

So, as to whether the model of a variety store can still succeed in today’s economy and society. Well for Wilkinson it appears it is; with 26 new stores, making 321 stores and rising, their sales rising by 6.2 per cent to £1,449million they say, “We are happy to report another outstanding year here at Wilkin- son.” Enough said.

BECKI ROWE

RMM CONSULTING AND RETAIL

MARKETING MAXIM

I believe there is still a place for a variety store, but not a Wool- worths clone. All too often success or failure is decided, not by what you do, but how you do it. I am reminded of how true this sentiment is by the various fash- ion retailers operating in the

value sector. New Look and Pri- mark have been performing well (excepting perhaps New Look’s on-off-on again IPO at the time of writing) and both have re- leased encouraging numbers. The opposite is true for MK One and Ethel Austin, for whom the future looks very shaky indeed. Woolworths did not collapse because they operated in the variety sector. There was a whole plethora of problems affecting the business. Covering every one of these issues would require far more column space than I have here but just a few of these prob- lems: availability and range issues in-store, intense competition and cashflow nightmares with the Woolworths owned Entertainment UK. Add to that mix failed refi- nancing attempts plus the withdrawal of credit insurance and life at Woolies became truly desperate. The Telegraph described Woolworths as “an >>

MEET THE EXPERTS

TIM OGLE

CEO RETAIL EYES.

Tim Ogle is the CEO of Retail Eyes, which specialises in improving customer experience.

GRAHAM HOYLE

MANAGING PARTNER OF RPI

Graham has

worked with many big names includ-

ing WHSmith, Beaverbrooks, and House of Fraser. The RetailPerformance Team analyses business, identifies key financial drivers, presents proposals to deliver improved profits and works to implement these proposals.

BECKI ROWE

RMM CONSULTING AND RETAIL MAR- KETING MAXIM.

Becki has worked in retail sales and mar- keting for 12 years

with companies that include Estee Lauder, Bravissimo and Hotel Chocolat. In the last five years alone she has opened 29 stores, launched a new route to market, rebranded a retail channel plus built sales and marketing teams from scratch.

PRETIOUS

LECTURER AT

QUEEN MARGARET UNI- VERSITY.

Mike Pretious lectures in

marketing, consumer and retail man- agement at Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh. Prior to becoming an aca- demic, Mike worked primarily in the retail clothing sector and held buying roles for a number of major companies including Selfridges, Mothercare and the Burton Group (now Arcadia.)

MIKE

What concerns you as a retailer in 2010?

Want to set the next topic for Question Time?

If you have a question you would like to put to the panel, we would love to hear it!

Email

naomi.davis@onecoms.co.uk

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