As Mothercare boss Simon Calver unveils the retailer’s full-year results, he tells Retail Week how his UK turnaround plan is progressing and where the big opportunities lie.
Are you where you thought you would be a year into your turnaround plan?
Yes. We always knew it was going to take a while to accelerate the UK business but we’ve seen losses reduce. Last year was about getting the people, structure and service in place and that’s all on track. We’ve listened to our customers through in-store surveys and have changed 60 store managers.
How are your customers reacting to the changes you’ve made?
They’re reacting positively. We’re seeing more mums buying more Mothercare product and at full price.
Where does the big growth opportunity lie for Mothercare?
We’ve just launched click-and-collect throughout our stores in May. It’s a huge opportunity for us. There have been so many changes in our services and our value range, we need to communicate them to our customers. There’s going to be a lot of activity around point of sale and signage in-store.
Your value range has proved popular with customers. How much of your clothing sales do you expect it to account for?
It’s been a great success. About 20-30% feels about right. We’re focusing more on fashion and visual merchandising in-store. Our Spring into Colour line did really well and looked great. We need to create more theatre in our stores. We have denim walls which look amazing, we could be a fashion retail store.
Online sales grew only 4% over the year. Do you expect greater growth next year?
If you look at the trend, there was a big reduction in the first quarter when we were moving to the new platform. It was quite flat in the middle two quarters and we grew 20% in the last quarter. It’s very positive and with what we’re doing in delivery, pricing and promotion we can grow this further.
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