Wednesday, June 25, 2008

09.00  Registration

09.30  Chairman's opening remarks

09.40  Delivering a planning strategy for a tougher economic climate to deliver future success
 Matt Stringer, head of international operations, Marks & Spencer

10.20  Overcoming the challenges facing inventory in a multichannel environment
 Ray Fowler, director, supply chain consultancy, CVL UK

10.50  Effectively merchandising for the online consumer
 Sarah Curran, chief executive and co-founder, My-Wardrobe.com

11.20  Morning refreshments

11.50  Delivering an online store experience for brand/web/shop unity
 Casey Gill, merchandising director, eBags

12.20  The future expectations for the online consumer
 Annabel Gatward, director, Glamorous Amorous

12.50  Lunch

13.50  Stock availability: serving customer demands versus 100 per cent availability

14.20  Afternoon refreshments

14.50  Delivering the right product, in the right quantities, through effective demand planning
 Gerry Loughran, merchandising manager, 99p Stores

15.20  Optimising relationships with brands and suppliers to ensure product sales maximisation
 Mark Wootton, merchandising director, Notcutts

15.50  Chairman's closing remarks

16.00  End of conference

17.00 Close of exhibition

In for a penny…

Changing ranges, an increasing focus on branded products and new stores sited in more middle-class areas will provide several merchandising challenges at 99p Stores this year.

The uncertain financial outlook and credit crunch are, however, bringing in new customers. So one of the single-price retailer's main merchandising challenges is how to meet this growing and changing demand. Its sales rose during the first quarter of this year after it brought in new, essential product ranges. It is also increasing its food offer to cater for consumer demand.

Last year the retailer pushed past the £100 million sales mark for the first time. It plans to return to profitability this year and double its 54 stores in the next three years.

99p Stores merchandising manager Gerry Loughran will speak on forecasting and demand planning at the Merchandising conference on June 25 at Retail Solutions.

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Web aware

If anyone can talk about the nuances of merchandising on the web compared with in-store, then it's My-Wardrobe.com chief executive and co-founder Sarah Curran.

In the mid-1990s, she was a space planning and merchandising assistant for Laboratoires Garnier, before moving on to own a fashion boutique and then set up online fashion retailer My-Wardrobe.com.

Annual sales have grown to almost £1 million since the launch of the site, which presently focuses on mid- to high-end ladies' fashion brands. Last year, sales rocketed 143 per cent, Curran told Retail Week in March. Now the company is to branch out into menswear after celebrating its second birthday in April this year.

The site has developed an increasing magazine feel, with fashion content to draw customers in. Features highlighting trends and products include a blog and My-TV, providing weekly updated video content hosted by My-Wardrobe staff.

Curran's business has now reached the stage where she can't do everything herself. The business's most recent high-profile recruit is Luisa de Paula, who joined as buying and merchandising director and previously held buying roles at Liberty and Selfridges. One of her responsibilities is to help target certain labels.

In addition, the e-tailer has bought domain names for My-maternity.com and My-lifestyle.com, so it can expand the brand to offer a department store shopping experience. It also has plans to expand into Eastern Europe.

Sarah Curran will be speaking on online merchandising at the Merchandising conference on June 25 at Retail Solutions.

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