quick overview:
- Value focus;
- targeted offerings for different customer groups, eg.Twist for the contemporary Woolies customer;
- improved merchandise cycle;
- review of sourcing strategy; and
- extension of branded beauty.
2009 focus
quality and value
Sustain the success of childrenswear and continue to drive better opening price points throughout the clothing and beauty offer, meeting customers’ current needs for competitive value but uncompromising quality.
range differentiation
Continue to offer Woolworths classic, modern and contemporary customer each a clearly segmented and differentiated range of quality clothing at good, better and best price points, and establish clear dominance in key headquarters assortments.
innovation
Drive design and innovation throughout the product development cycle.
availability
Improve availability of clothing, ensuring that the customer finds the right size in the desired garment.
new opportunities
Launch Country Road menswear in late 2008 with a rollout to further stores in 2009, and extend the branded beauty offer to more stores.
retail: clothing and beauty
clothing
With a clear and segmented view of the Woolworths customer, and a single view of the range offering required to comprehensively meet their needs, the ongoing focus for the year was range definition and appropriate brand development.
At good and better price tiers, Woolworths headquarters assortments regained depth in key categories with, for example, a dominant knitwear offer for winter and a comprehensive t-shirt shop for summer. These clear category statements are also reinforced in Woolworths core offerings of sleepwear, underwear, womenswear, childrenswear essentials, men’s essentials and formal shirts. The core ranges, competitively priced with uncompromising quality, meet Woolworths classic and modern customer needs.
A heightened focus on value during the year, especially at opening price points, brought the clothing price movement down to 7.3% in the second half (July – December 2007: 9.6%).
Complementing the headquarters assortments,Woolworths classic customer continued to find excellent value in the classic collection and in menswear, the Super Sport brand performed particularly well. At the premium end, WCollection continued to make a profitable contribution, offering good quality classic styling for men and women.
The Woolworths modern customer will now find a clearer and more focused casual and formalwear offering in the recently relaunched studio.w collection for both men and women. To meet these discerning customers’ needs for a unique modern look, Country Road was launched in April in four relevant stores and has been extremely well received, outperforming expectations in the premium womenswear segment.
The Re_jeans brand was successfully relaunched during the year and captured the opportunity in the jeans and casualwear market for contemporary men and women, whilst SA Designers at Woolworths continues to bring contemporary customers a range of premium quality clothing and supports local designers.
Completing the clothing shop for Woolies contemporary customer, Twist, a range designed in New York with a unique point of difference, was launched in August and is available in 26 stores across the country. Twist offers contemporary women uniquely styled fashion items at good value.
Accessories sold well during the year and improved range definition in footwear towards the end of the period offered customers an appropriate and comprehensive solution.
With the shift in global manufacturing and the decline of the local clothing manufacturing sector, we have reviewed and are implementing a new sourcing strategy which will drive improved innovation and efficiencies.
The clothing merchandise cycle has been re-engineered to instil a more disciplined approach to the buying and planning processes.
beauty
Woolworths introduction of premium branded international beauty products appealed to Woolworths customers and showed considerable growth. The range has been consolidated with credibility and authority and complements Woolworths recently relaunched private label toiletries and cosmetics.
Throughout clothing and beauty an ongoing drive towards innovation and leadership continued to offer customers a strong point of differentiation. All Woolworths private label beauty products were endorsed by Beauty without Cruelty in February 2008. In clothing the use of organic cotton increased, reinforcing Woolworths Good business journey and establishing Woolworths as the world’s third largest consumer of organic cotton. A range of bamboo products, a natural and sustainable fibre, were introduced in women’s outerwear in 2008 and we introduced a fleece jacket made from 100% recycled plastic bottles, a first in Woolworths Good business journey, to close the recycling loop.