Our client, an Australian TV and Radio broadcasting corporation who also owned retail shops, was in decline. The leadership team knew they were great Broadcasters, but had little retail expertise. They had tried to sell their shops but found they could not get a high enough price - so had to continue managing them. The shops had no clear consumer draw or competitive advantage, with poor signage and price messaging. Meanwhile, the management team had reached an impasse being deeply divided on the right way forward,  some favoured evolving whilst others favoured revolutionising the current offer and business model.

We ran a detailed set of diagnostics in the stores, enagaging the entire retail team. These were very much focused on the customer and their likes and dislikes of the current offer. A series of “visioning workshops” enabled the retail team to gain insight into global and market trends and the interpretation of that into best practice from countries around the world. With this in mind, we encouraged the team to let go, to think and act radically, with no boundaries, thus stretching their imaginations. We faciliatated workshops to identify current process failings and streamline them into new more efficient ways of working.

In under six months, a new radical concept store was developed, ratified by the Board, refitted and launched. The new shops traded with more than a 20% increase in sales. A new pricing strategy was put in place which adopted a more flexible margin management approach in order to regain price competitiveness. This was coupled with a new P-o-S template which was put in place to focus on a one-product, one price approach. The new retail structure incorporated new management roles with new skill sets. As such, the new retail team were engaged and working with real enthusiasm and pace.