As New Look’s new chief executive Anders Kristiansen takes the helm at the fashion retailer today, Retail Week looks at what the former Bestseller China boss needs to focus on.

International

Kristiansen’s international experience was a big draw for New Look, which is understood to have conducted a thorough overseas search for its new boss. New Look chairman Alistair McGeorge has said that the retailer, which currently has 210 stores outside of the UK, will have a “very substantive” business in Russia, a “decent footprint” in China and a presence in India.

Kristiansen, who was previously vice president of Vero Moda owner Bestseller’s 5,500 store Chinese business, has an abundance of overseas experience and has managed businesses across Asia-Pacific and Europe.

His first focus will be getting New Look’s Chinese business off the ground. The retailer is poised to launch in the country before the end of March.

Store portfolio

It has long been said that New Look, which has 600 stores, has too many outlets. The retailer has around 100 lease expiries in the next three years, so Kristiansen will be looking closely at its property portfolio, especially in light of its growing online sales.

McGeorge has said that in an ideal world New Look would have only 450 to 500 stores however its square footage will remain the same.

Product

New Look product has been steadily improving over the past year, however that improvement was much needed. The retailer’s core womenswear offer was hit over 2010 to 2011 after some of its buying expertise was lost when it moved its headquarters from Weymouth to London. The retailer had focussed on the younger shopper too much and its price architecture had become weighted too heavily to the upper end of the scale, allowing value rivals such as Primark to benefit.

McGeorge has started to rectify the situation, bringing in sharper price points which has reduced the level of markdown. Kristiansen will need to build on this momentum and make sure New Look’s value credential remain as sharp as ever.

Multichannel

Despite New Look’s recent woes it has made great strides in multichannel over the past year, giving customers looking for convenience a clear reason to choose it over Primark, which doesn’t have a transactional website.

Kristiansen will be spearheading the roll-out of New Look’s multichannel store format. The retailer is aiming to roll-out the format, which launched last year, to 124 stores by March.

With initiatives such as click-and-collect and super quick and designated delivery slots gaining in popularity, there will be much for Kristiansen to focus on to ensure it has a best-in-class multichannel operation.

Stabilising the team

New Look has experienced a string of managerial departures over the past 18 months, meaning that Kristiansen is taking over a very new team which will need time to bed in. The new boss will need to show strong leadership to help solidify the fledgling team he has around him and make them buy into his vision if New Look’s recovery is going to succeed.

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