Internet & E-commerce
Operational Due Diligence of Leading Direct Marketing Company: Positioning the Buyer for a Fact-based Bid and Subsequent Rapid Savings Capture
Identified $14-29MM in relatively easily achievable savings (sourcing, freight, and catalog opportunities, along with a $26-37MM potential from inventory reduction), which collectively far exceeded management projections. Due diligence scope included China sourcing costs, outbound freight, catalog printing/mailing costs, call center operations, warehousing and inventory. Client, a mega-PE firm, won this hotly-contested auction. After deal closure, helped management team capture identified opportunities.
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Operations Improvements at Large Direct Marketing Company: Capturing Sourcing and Inventory Opportunities
Assisted management team in capturing $10+MM in sourcing cost reduction and $20+MM in inventory optimization opportunities identified during operational due diligence. The effort included developing new sourcing function and processes, crafting a strategic sourcing approach including a business case for Asia Sourcing Office, re-sourcing 15,000+ China-sourced items ($100+MM spend), and creating robust inventory management approach/processes.
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Sourcing Optimization at Large Direct Marketing Company: Consolidating the Vendor Base to Reduce Complexity
Helped management consolidate China base of 1,700+ factories and capture cost savings ($8.7MM, 12% in sourcing savings). 5 phase effort included creating the bid package, supporting the bidding process, building a quote evaluation tool, and awarding the business. Returned 6 months later to help management diagnose/respond to price increases driven by macro factors (e.g., Chinese currency appreciation, elimination of Chinese export tax rebate, commodity price increases, and new quality/factory inspection requirements).
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Strategic Merchandising at Large Direct Marketing Company: Developing Category Management Capabilities with Item-level Strategies
Worked with the senior merchandising team to develop capabilities and strategies for all key elements that constitute strategic merchandising -- assortment strategy, new product introduction, catalog/web placement strategy, product lifecycle strategy, and pricing strategy. With strategic approach, CatalogCo now meeting SKU targets, properly planning media placement, and able to identify and fill gaps in assortment.
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Assortment Optimization at Large Catalog Company: SKU, Pricing, Mix, and Placement Rationalization
Led effort to optimize 45,000 active SKU assortment, which yielded ~$7MM in cost savings. Reclassified 45,000 SKUs into approximately 500 classes of merchandise to align with how merchandisers thought about products. Developed reporting to review performance over time, by price point, by occasion, by performance, etc. Optimized assortment by class to eliminate poor-performing items and reduce cannibalization. Adjusted pricing to ensure competitive pricing and proper mix by price point. Determined most efficient catalog and web placement.
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Operations Improvements at Large Catalog Retailer: Strategic Merchandising to Drive Growth
Led transformation of merchandising group from item-pickers for catalogs to fact-based multi-channel category managers. Started with assortment optimization, quickly yielding ~$7MM in savings. Then developed processes for all key elements of strategic merchandising and supporting planning and reporting tools. Transformation has positioned CatalogCo to grow top-line and EBITDA via fact-based precision and a new agility in new product, placement, and ad-spend decision-making.
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