Magazine
Learn Mandarin! – A study trip with self-experimentation in transformation
Transformation and change in Germany and German retail? How long are we going to keep talking about it? When will we be overtaken by technology and the attitudes of future generations? Why do we find it so difficult and what is the point of looking beyond our own backyard? A study trip made by the author to Asia turns into self-discovery – an experience he processes here with the help of polemics.
I have a CRUSH on you - or how do you connect with Generations Y and Z?
How cool, real, unique, self-identifying or happy is your company? If you haven't thought about it yet, you should do so as soon as possible. Because only strong and attractive brands that pass the CRUSH test remain attractive to the younger generation.
BREAKING "THE" BAD - new perspectives for the fashion industry
The fashion industry lives in a paradox: it is one of the most creative sectors of society and yet is subject to the same efficiency constraints as all other highly mature branches of industry. Logic tells us that creativity costs time and money – but that assertion runs contrary to the required efficiency. Yet one way these supposed opposites can be successfully combined into a new business model can be copied from another industry that has already felt the pressure to radically change its organization and working methods. Here is the success story of Netflix & Co.
No half measures!
How can we manage to control two value chains perfectly while meeting customer expectations?
Why are many companies unable to adequately differentiate their value chains?
Now it's getting personal, or the relevance of digital service
Moving through the world of digital shopping: from the touchpoints of recent times and the tablet as second choice to truly relevant service. A slightly different customer journey …
When Culture eats Strategy for Breakfast
Strategically planning for the future? It’s a balancing act in times of volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous markets. Strengthening the organisation to enable it to identify challenges more rapidly and solve them with greater agility and pragmatism is, on the face of it, a more promising approach. Culture is increasingly becoming the deciding factor – and a decisive part of the strategy itself.
What fashion can learn from Netflix...
A TV series can be addictive. How can this principle be applied to fashion retailing? Good timing, relevant products, exciting stories and clever staging are the ingredients.
BAMM!
Everything is in motion in Dietmar Dahmen's world. In his stage appearances, he encourages the audience to take radical steps, with the goal of remaining relevant to the marketplace. "From victims of disruption to business heroes," is his motto.
Strategy 3.0 – understanding your customers
In an era of digital overload and fickle millennials desperately in search of identity, it’s time for many brands and retailers to rethink their strategy. Abstract discussions are not enough. Customer-centred strategy development is pragmatic, iterative, creative and reduced to the essentials: the customers.
Foosball is not enough! On the relevance of the right culture of creativity
How can we meet market demand for more innovation?
Let's Dance
Customers have asked brand retailers to dance and are insisting on quicker tempo and rhythm. “See now, buy now” is just the beginning when a retail brand learns the steps toward greater agility and customer orientation. And whatever the next dance craze turns out to be, it’s high time to learn it.
Move your perspective – and thus your customers!
„Customer first“. Easy as it sounds, it is much harder to implement. In daily business, many companies focus more on internal processes than on their customers. A change of perspective is more than necessary.
Let's do a little yoga
“Breathe in, breathe out, then pause for a while”. What sounds like the beginning of a normal yoga session can also be applied to the corporate development.
Those who take the time to constantly question their goals and the path leading to them develop rituals that help them to take the right strategic decisions.
Radikal vertikal
Es braucht Mut, Bestehendes zu würdigen und trotzdem erst mal zur Seite zu legen. Die Herausforderung, das Geschäftsmodell konsequent an den Endkunden auszurichten und die Bedeutung der Kanäle neu zu definieren, ist anspruchsvoll.
Outlets and brand health
Did you know that in today’s competitive market an average fashion brand sells a good 40% of its assortment discounted? Do you know exactly what share of your merchandise is sold discounted? And are you in control of its development? If you want to be fully in control, here’s how: follow the example of leading brands and actively build your own outlet division, design special makeup (SMU) outlet collections, develop an outlet supply chain and aggressively increase the number of your own outlet stores! It’s as simple as that – maybe not easy, but simple. That’s how Europe’s leading brands manage their supply chains, turn overstock and markdown problems into a growing and profitable business area and in some cases exceed €200m in sales.
Brand distribution 2020: Wholesale is the new retail
2014 began with a surprising bulletin from New York’s Ralph Lauren: “Net revenues for the full year 2013 increased 7% … wholesale revenues up 11% …”. Did any other fashion brand recently achieve more wholesale growth than retail growth? Has our long-time favourite for best practice growth strategy, finally lost it? Or is RL leading a new trend in brand growth strategies?
Global sourcing of retailers, importers and brands: trends, challenges and developments in sourcing countries
by Oliver Schlömann
FTA Panel Discussions, June, 25th, Brussels
Moderator: Stuart Newman, FTA Legal Advisor
Speakers:
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Signe Ratso, Director, DG Trade
Brand distribution partnerships - or: How's your marriage?
by Guido Schild
Retail KPI Thought - Sell through Luxury Problems
by Oliver Schlömann
Retailers are from Mars
by Guido Schild
Sind Sie noch Einkäufer oder schon Sortimentsmanager? – Einkauf mit Blick auf den Kunden
Sie sind ein Einkäufer der alten Schule? Dann kommen Ihnen Sätze wie „Der Gewinn des Händlers liegt im Einkauf.“ leicht über die Lippen. Oder sind Sie eher der Typ „zertifizierter“ Category Manager, der den Kunden bei der Sortimentsauswahl in den Mittelpunkt stellt und ohne Fokus-Gruppe keine Sortimentsentscheidung trifft?