As I write, the future of the ‘much-loved' Woolworths brand is still up in the air. There's uncertainty over who the new owners will be and in what shape the business will emerge. Goods are currently being sold with up to 50% off at my local store and staff don't know whether they'll have jobs to come back to in the New Year.
So how can the business itself around? It's not easy and many people have tried and failed. However, here's a few suggestions:
Step 1 Focus on the Needs of Young Families
The brand is downmarket and old fashioned. It needs to re-juevenate its image and become more of a destination store for young families. As well as re-visiting the range - see below - it needs to offer additional services such as cafes, crèches and baby changing facilities to encourage mums to visit and spend time there. See IKEA for inspiration.
Step 2 Range Rationalisation
Woolworths sells too much stuff and most of it not very well. When you walk around the store its like visiting a car boot sale or a village fete. There's all kinds of weird and wonderful stuff - potted plants, pick n' mix chocolates, frying pans, etc laid out in a haphazard fashion
Weird, low value items need to be ditched. Merchandising needs to be more imaginative and inspiring. I think a lot more could be done with the Ladybird brand, not only in the area of kids clothing. Its certainly got more equity than George.
Step 3 Make it Less Seasonal
People visit most often for Easter eggs and Christmas pressies. This makes it vulnerable to seasonable peaks and troughs. There need to be reasons to visit the store more often by offering more regular goods. In addition there should be more events throughout the year: Valentines Day, Summer Fun, Back to School, etc.
I've always been impressed by the way Tchibo changes its offer and range on a weekly basis to keep consumers coming back. Woolworths could learn from this.
Step 4 Really Deliver on Value.
Although the stores look cheap, what they sell isn't always great value given the level of competition from discounters. Ensure that at least certain items are the best value in the market. Its how the brand was built in the first place and it needs to re-establish this in the hearts and minds of the consumer.
Step 5 Create an Online Experience
Online retailing is on the up and Woolworths is lagging behind. In order to stop consumers continuing to turn to supermarkets and specialist on line retailers such Amazon and Play.com it needs to take this area much more seriously with great offers, free delivery and a more intuitive, interactive website.
It will be interesting to see what happens to Woolies over the next few weeks. Whoever buys it will be taking on the biggest challenge on the High Street. Whoever succeeds will deserve a knighthood.
