Project Description
Discount Retailer Redesigns Its Merchandising Team for Remarkable Growth
Client Challenge
The client is a $7+ billion discount variety retailer with multi-banner, multi-channel, and multi-format operations in the United States and Canada. The retailer was expanding through the acquisition of domestic and international chains, the introduction of e-commerce capabilities, and the testing of new store concepts; however, the client was struggling to manage this increasingly complex environment. The retailer needed to redesign its merchandising team’s processes, roles and responsibilities, and reporting structures to support their growth trajectory toward $10+ billion in sales.
Parker Avery Solution
The Parker Avery Group collaborated with the client’s senior executives to design a new merchandising organizational model that aligned buying, pricing, financial planning, inventory management, product development, sourcing, space planning, marketing, and operations.
Key activities for developing the new merchandising team included the following:
- Creating a buyer-centric organization to enable more focus on building optimal merchandise assortments
- Clarifying merchandising team roles, responsibilities, and accountabilities to maximize process efficiency
- Focusing on individual banner performance to emphasize uniqueness
- Minimizing organizational silos to remove barriers and improve collaboration
- Defining clear career paths and future opportunities to ensure the attracting and retainment of top talent
- Enabling concept testing, innovation, and merchandising ‘big ideas’ to drive demand and sales volume
Results
After the project, the CEO described the work as the most successful initiative the retailer had undertaken in his tenure. The retailer immediately deployed the redesigned merchandising team and began hiring to fill newly created roles. The client also engaged Parker Avery to design, develop, and deliver training for the new organizational structure.
One year after the initial project, the new merchandising team structure has been embraced by the company and most new positions are staffed and deemed successes. The client is benefitting from a more efficient and collaborative merchandising team and supporting processes.
Unlock your merchandising capabilities.
You may also like
