Strategy and business development
PRODUCT PORTFOLIO SEGMENTATION DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION
Working with the lead market for a brand with a broad spread of retail price points (mass-entry to premium) in a category under threat (technology influence), and losing money due to unsuccessful short-term sales-boosting activities.
A key aspect was the local team’s over reliance on ‘buy-one-get-one-free’ offers on mass-entry ranges with their largest customer. The approach was designed to ‘boost’ sales but in reality was losing the business £1m year-on-year, eroding price and margin, and limiting the performance of the premium ranges.
What I did
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Designed a portfolio segmentation strategy to allow premium and mass-entry ranges to successfully co-exist in the market, while also supporting different marketing solutions according to the needs of different channels.
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The new segmentation also targeted a streamlining of packaging formats (SKU reduction).
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Implemented a validation process that revealed step-by-step the success potential of the approach in order to overcome the reticence of the UK management team (concept, workshops, research).
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Once the UK team had bought into the opportunity of the new segmentation, established a project team with them to sell the concept to the customer.
The Result
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Successfully sold the idea to the customer, securing 100% endorsement from their CEO who subsequently allocated additional funds to help roll-out the new merchandising concept in their top 50 stores.
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Reduced SKU count by almost 50% while increasing listings and display share by +22%.
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Saved an estimated £3m by reversing the decline in mass sales and reducing price promotion deals - due to more targeted and value-added offers.