Reviewing the Target Operating Model for a Middle Eastern Fashion Retailer
We were asked to use our deep expertise in Buying, Merchandising, Planning and Commercial functions to review the planning processes, systems and organisational structure at a Middle Eastern fashion multiple retailer.
The Challenge 
The retailer was performing well but did not feel that they were working in the most efficient way possible.
Many of the leadership team had grown with the brand and had deep understanding of the customer, the market and the buying function but recognised that the business was now much more complex and that they did not have enough expertise in Merchandise Planning.
They wanted to ensure they were building a firm base from which they could expand.
Our Approach
The consultant who completed the review has extensive experience both from a 20-year operational career in Merchandise Planning and 10-years in retail consulting, change management and system transformation programmes.
Having completed this type of review many times we find there are a mix of common themes and challenges specific to each client.
We used a number of research methods to assess the current situation:
- Reviewed a set of requested documents from the retailer (in this case, the retailer was able to provide the majority, but a lack of documentation can be just as revealing)
- Spent time on site
- Observed meetings as they happened
- Interviewed a broad section of the Buying and Merchandising teams – from CEO to the most junior team
- Interviewed the function leaders who interact with B&M – Finance, Marketing, HR, L&D, eCommerce
- Remote interaction
- Again observed meetings as they happened
- Dived deeper on specific topics with team members
- Utilised experience, standard models and network to assess what was working well and where there were opportunities to develop, and made a set of actionable recommendations
We checked in with the project sponsor as the assessment was forming to ensure it was factually correct and to share developing impressions so that themes could be challenged and socialised.
The Results (Outputs and Outcomes)
We finalised a summary presentation to playback findings, initially to the project sponsor to ensure alignment, ensure “hot topics” were treated appropriately, and to enable socialisation of messages.
We then spent time on-site with the client, presenting the output to the CEO and senior leadership team in an interactive session, enabling the client to fully understand the assessment and align on next steps.
Most of the feedback we shared were themes that the business was aware of to some extent, but working with First Friday meant that the client was able to benchmark against other retailers and get under the skin of the key priorities across people, process and systems.
Got a similar project you’d like us to work on?
We have a lot of experience in Buying, Merchandising and Merchandise Planning projects and have worked on many projects, so let us know some high-level details, and one of our team will be in touch to talk you through how we can help and what you’d need to do to get the ball rolling.
Perhaps you require change management support for your transformation, developing and delivering training to support systems transformations , retail capability training for head office or stores or perhaps you need retail consulting help prior to any systems work.