Strengthening a New Retail Brand’s Operating Strategy and Implementation Plan

This leading international retailer and distributor of professional beauty supplies has operations in North America, South America, and Europe, offering a wide range of professional-grade beauty products and equipment for beauty professionals and consumers. With the rise of online beauty retailers and increasing consumer demand for affordable, high-quality beauty products, the client wanted to differentiate itself by launching a new value beauty brand offering quality products at an affordable price. The launch of the new retail brand was a key growth strategy, with the goal of creating a sustainable and profitable business model that would enable the company to continue to thrive.

Due to the significance of the new retail brand’s launch and to attain board approval, the client needed to build a comprehensive and compelling roadmap that considered all aspects of the operation. The roadmap and business case needed to include merchandise procurement, store labor costs, store buildout expenses, and product distribution. Further, the financial model needed to be supported by robust data, detailed projections, and sound assumptions.

Parker Avery assembled an internal team of beauty industry and store operations experts to develop the financial rationale and roadmap for the new brand. The approach for building the new retail brand’s business case entailed close collaboration with the client to fine-tune assumptions and arrive at the most realistic recommendations.

The team examined key business drivers and interdependencies, built a comprehensive store labor model, which factored in all relevant labor costs, and ensured the labor model was in line with the overall financial plan.

The new retail brand’s merchandise financial plan was also a key component and incorporated an assortment strategy and class-level margin planning to optimize margins and ensure long-term financial viability. Additionally, the store buildout depreciation model was integrated into the business case to provide a comprehensive picture of the costs involved in setting up the new stores.

Parker Avery outlined a detailed implementation plan, taking into consideration cross-functional dependencies and ensuring a smooth transition to the new retail brand concept.