Abercrombie & Fitch 10Q for the quarter ended May 3
I was perusing Abercrombie & Fitch's recent 10Q and came across the following interesting information. Their total sales for the quarter were $800 million. Of that total $330 million, or 41 percent, came from their Hollister stores. They have 460 Hollister stores representing 44% of their total 1,047 stores.
Maybe five years ago, at a Surf Industry Conference in Cabo, I asked a panel of specialty retailers something like, "What are you guys going to do when there are 5,000 brand owned retail stores competing with you?" It wasn't a very popular question and the only answer I got, before they moved on as quickly as possible on to a less inconvenient question, was something like, "We're prepared to compete with anybody."
Now, I guess there aren't 5,000 brand owned stores today, but if you add the Hollisters, Zumiez, VF and related stores to the brand owned stores, I wouldn't be surprised to find we're close to 5,000. I might even think to include some of the large format sporting goods stores like Joe's that are very well merchandised and presented.
I'm pretty sure the guys who were on the panel, and certainly the one who made that comment are still around. They can and are competing! But my sense is that a lot of others aren't. The reason? Well, there are issues like margin, effective management of open to buy, sales volume and other stuff I'd call, for lack of a better term, "quantitative" factors. But assuming you have all those things under control, and you have to just to be in the game, it comes down to customer service.
Every specialty retailer will tell you they compete based on customer service. Correct answer, but what does that mean exactly? It does not mean saying, "Hi, can I help you" or some such thing to everybody who walks in the store. It means making a measurable difference in the shopping experience that makes it worth while for your customer to come to your store and spend a little more.
When I bought my last pair of snowboard boots a couple of years ago at The Snowboard Connection in Seattle, I tried on about 12 pair and at the end of the day they had to order the right pair for me (very big and I guess strangely shaped feet). I think I paid full price. I know I didn't give a damn about the price. They were the right boot.
That's customer service and it's the specialty retailer's only chance. I've got an article coming out in Transworld Business that describes how that might be done with skateboard technology, if I may use those two words in the same sentence. It's not in the issue you're getting now but in the next one.
Customer service is doing things that other stores can't or won't do with individual customers. It requires good hiring, retention, and endless training. You have to measure it and figure out how to reward based on it. When all is said and done, it's your only advantage.
Maybe five years ago, at a Surf Industry Conference in Cabo, I asked a panel of specialty retailers something like, "What are you guys going to do when there are 5,000 brand owned retail stores competing with you?" It wasn't a very popular question and the only answer I got, before they moved on as quickly as possible on to a less inconvenient question, was something like, "We're prepared to compete with anybody."
Now, I guess there aren't 5,000 brand owned stores today, but if you add the Hollisters, Zumiez, VF and related stores to the brand owned stores, I wouldn't be surprised to find we're close to 5,000. I might even think to include some of the large format sporting goods stores like Joe's that are very well merchandised and presented.
I'm pretty sure the guys who were on the panel, and certainly the one who made that comment are still around. They can and are competing! But my sense is that a lot of others aren't. The reason? Well, there are issues like margin, effective management of open to buy, sales volume and other stuff I'd call, for lack of a better term, "quantitative" factors. But assuming you have all those things under control, and you have to just to be in the game, it comes down to customer service.
Every specialty retailer will tell you they compete based on customer service. Correct answer, but what does that mean exactly? It does not mean saying, "Hi, can I help you" or some such thing to everybody who walks in the store. It means making a measurable difference in the shopping experience that makes it worth while for your customer to come to your store and spend a little more.
When I bought my last pair of snowboard boots a couple of years ago at The Snowboard Connection in Seattle, I tried on about 12 pair and at the end of the day they had to order the right pair for me (very big and I guess strangely shaped feet). I think I paid full price. I know I didn't give a damn about the price. They were the right boot.
That's customer service and it's the specialty retailer's only chance. I've got an article coming out in Transworld Business that describes how that might be done with skateboard technology, if I may use those two words in the same sentence. It's not in the issue you're getting now but in the next one.
Customer service is doing things that other stores can't or won't do with individual customers. It requires good hiring, retention, and endless training. You have to measure it and figure out how to reward based on it. When all is said and done, it's your only advantage.
posted by Jeff Harbaugh at
9:56 AM
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