SUCCESS STORY: ENABLING WOMEN’S SPECIALTY RETAILER TO SUCCESSFULLY ENTER INTO THE BRIDAL SECTOR

Company Profile: The Company, through its 346 store locations, competes in the “better” priced category and caters to the successful relatively affluent career woman who needs appropriate fashion conscious attire for her professional life and stylish coordinated looks for her leisure activities.

Situation: The Company launched a line of special occasion dresses and accessories in January 2006. While the brand successfully filled a void for trend-right, high quality and well-priced bridesmaid’s dresses available for immediate takeaway, the Company was unable to leverage the line’s potential due primarily to its lack of expertise in the bridal sector. As a result, the Company identified a need to leverage its expertise in the bridal industry because it is a different business model in terms of:

• Timing of the product delivery
• Service and client experience
• Holistic experience – creating the “wedding vibe” within its stores
• Media, PR and outreach

 
The Company engaged the Pao Principle to:

  1. Understand who is the bridal client
  2. Define the Bridal Specialist role – improve service and in-store experience
  3. Increase media and outreach to create more awareness
  4. Create and develop a strategy to profitably expand the concept, taking into account their real estate constraints

Solution:The Pao Principle worked with the Company’s internal team to:

• Assess key strategic issues associated with the line’s expansion
• Develop a five-year fully loaded financial forecast
• Design and update the marketing collateral materials
• Identify opportunities to reduce marketing costs by leveraging content across different divisions (e.g. catalog, .com, in-store, etc.)
• Create clear brand identity for the line
• Develop comprehensive educational and training program to 1) ensure delivery of a positive comprehensive store experience and 2) maximize ROI on its in-store investments


Results:After eight months, the Pao Principle’s efforts:

• Produced a positive impact on store performance

+14% full price comp growth vs. company average of 5%

+2.5% increase in traffic vs. company average of 1.2%

+25% increase in AUS
• Resulted in understanding the true sales potential of the line:

44% of clients purchased bridesmaid’s dresses

38% purchased for guest of wedding, 21% for bridal shower and 12% for rehearsal dinner

23% purchased for other events (e.g. semi-formal, corporate, charity event)
• Enabled stores to deliver a positive, consistent client experience by:

Creating and implementing standard procedures and metrics for performance measurement

Capturing and leveraging best practices of Bridal Specialists

Proactively communicating key strategic messages to educate and motivate the field

Copyright 2011