Retail transformation for fashion and lifestyle brands.
I fix what's holding brands back across the GCC and CIS and build the structure they need to grow. For global brands, I lead their entry into the GCC the right way.
Twenty years at River Island, Landmark, Chalhoub, MBC and Alshaya. Then founder of my own brand.
It all started with a collection. I studied Fashion Product Innovation at the University for the Creative Arts. In my final year I was one of nineteen students out of more than 300 chosen to show my collection on the runway at London Graduate Fashion Week. Later it was featured on WGSN. It felt like the beginning of everything.
It all started with a collection. I studied Fashion Product Innovation at the University for the Creative Arts. In my final year I was one of nineteen students out of more than 300 chosen to show my collection on the runway at London Graduate Fashion Week. Later it was featured on WGSN. It felt like the beginning of everything.
I wanted to understand the other side of fashion, so I did what a designer rarely does. I went to work on the shop floor at Armani Exchange. I folded clothes, served customers and learned how people really shop.
My first experience inside a fashion house was at Biba. I worked there part time and loved every second of it. I knew this was where I belonged.
Then came the interview I will never forget. It was for my first head office job in London, as a Merchandising Assistant at French Connection and Nicole Farhi. I arrived late. I wanted that job more than anything and I still got it.
I worked alongside the designers and the production team, supporting every department with whatever they needed. I saw how a collection really comes together. Design decides what a brand creates, but buying decides what it sells. That was the moment I knew which side I wanted to be on.
Buying was one of the most sought-after jobs in fashion and it was hard to get into. I applied and applied and at one point I wondered if it would ever happen. Then River Island called. It was a brand I had grown up with and loved. I can't explain the excitement and sense of achievement I felt in that moment. I remember walking into the office like it was yesterday.
I worked my way up from buyer's clerk to junior buyer in the blouses and knitwear departments. Knitwear was one of the biggest departments in the business and traded up to $1.5M a week at peak. That is where I built my foundations in buying.
The region
In 2012 I was headhunted for a buying role in Dubai. I was torn. I loved River Island and had achieved so much in my four years there. But international experience was something I couldn't turn down.
I remember arriving in Dubai with two suitcases and wondering what I had done. I called my buyer at River Island and asked if I had made the right choice. She told me I had and that if I didn't like it I could always come back. That reassurance was priceless. It was the moment I knew I wanted to be a leader, not a boss.
At Landmark I was thrown in at the deep end, but it was also exciting to be given such responsibility and to work directly with the owner. I was responsible for 20% of the business as the buyer for the fashion trend department, the face of the brand. There was no time to settle in. I built the Iconic Trend departments across 42 stores in four countries, from approving designs and resolving quality issues to negotiating with and onboarding new suppliers across Europe, Asia and the Middle East. I introduced processes like critical paths, close to season buying and product sign off, some of the same tools I now build for clients. Landmark taught me to move fast without losing control.
I still remember the call to join Chalhoub Group. It was a group I had admired and always wanted to be part of. But it was luxury and my experience was high street. A recruiter had once told me that if I worked in high street I would never make it into luxury buying. That stuck with me and this was my chance to prove it wrong.
Chalhoub was different. Luxury was selection buying, far more analytical and the buyer was the heart of the business. I was accountable for much more than buying and it sharpened my skills in retail, visual merchandising, operations and finance. I travelled across the region managing stores in the Middle East and North Africa and I bought for each store and its location rather than for a whole country or region.
I started as a luxury buyer on Longchamp, Mulberry, Karl Lagerfeld and Proenza Schouler. I was then promoted to senior buyer, taking on Marc Jacobs, Zadig & Voltaire, Alice + Olivia and Paule Ka. By the end I was running a $20M+ portfolio across 26 stores in six countries and opening five stores in a single year.
Then a former colleague asked me to head the fashion and jewellery department at HSE24, the live TV and e-commerce venture with MBC Group. My role was to build the business and bring brands into the KSA market. It was my first experience of e-commerce. I managed a team of buyers and together we launched more than 80 brands. On live TV the trading rhythm was measured in days rather than seasons and every show told us straight away what customers wanted.
My own money
After all my experience I decided to launch my own brand with a friend I had met at Chalhoub. We noticed an appetite for one-piece solutions and created CBEAUX, a premium womenswear brand for women by women. Everything I had done until then led to this moment. As an entrepreneur I had to understand every area of the business, from raising over $500K to managing the P&L and EBITDA myself. Being a founder changed how I advise founders. I know what it is to sign a purchase order knowing exactly whose money it is.
CBEAUX campaign
Scale
At Alshaya I joined the multi-brand marketplace Tamanna as Brand and Commercial Head. I fully managed the commercial and brand side of the business across womenswear, menswear, kidswear, beauty and home. I worked with retailers and distributors to strategically launch new brands and the marketplace grew to more than 600 brands. We doubled sales, took the business into KSA and secured the exclusive online launch of Harvey Nichols. I advised the CEO and kept the board regularly updated.
Now
Since 2024 I've worked independently with brands across the GCC, CIS and with global brands looking to enter the Gulf.
Some brands are stuck, some are struggling, some are growing faster than their structure. Every brand needs something different. My job is to find out what is holding the brand back and build what it needs.
I work hands-on, side by side with your team, from the stockroom to the boardroom. I take on a small number of clients at a time, so you always work with me directly.
At a glance
2024 to now
Founder, Aziza Edden Consultancy
Retail transformation for fashion and lifestyle brands across the GCC and CIS, from buying and merchandising to operations, retail, marketing, team structure and GCC market entry.
2021 to 2024
Brand and Commercial Head, Alshaya Group
Tamanna Marketplace, 600+ brands, Kuwait and KSA
2019 to 2021
Co-founder, CBEAUX
Premium womenswear, UAE, KSA and Qatar.
2017 to 2019
Head of Fashion and Jewellery, HSE24 with MBC Group
Live TV and e-commerce, KSA
2014 to 2017
Senior Luxury Fashion Buyer, Chalhoub Group
Eight luxury brands across 26 stores in six countries.
2012 to 2014
Fashion Buyer, Landmark Group
Fashion trend department, 42 stores.
2008 to 2012
Buyer's Clerk to Junior Buyer, River Island
Blouses and knitwear.
2007 to 2008
Merchandising Assistant, French Connection and Nicole Farhi
2006 to 2007
Armani Exchange and Biba
Shop floor and fashion house.
BA (Hons) Fashion Product Innovation, University for the Creative Arts.
What each business faced, what I saw, what changed and what it delivered. Consulting clients stay confidential. In-house roles are named.
In progressConsultingRetail transformation
A full transformation, function by function
Retail Transformation Consultant. Sportswear brand. 8 stores in 3 countries, plus e-commerce and marketplaces. Ongoing.
The challenge
The business was missing the fundamentals of running a retail company. There were no clear objectives or targets and no one was working to KPIs. As a product development brand, the design and development teams worked alone and core functions were missing altogether. The company needed a full transformation, with a new structure built for a product development retailer that also sells B2B, through its own e-commerce and across multiple marketplaces.
The opportunity
The opportunity was to transform the whole business. The company had been stuck with the same numbers and no growth for a long time, with stock piling up and markdowns as the only way to drive sales. Without sell-through tracking or an OTB, there was no way to see what was working or control what was bought. The business needed to understand how a retail company really runs, how each function works on its own and how they all work together. That meant giving the company clear direction, building a full commercial team and training every team with new job descriptions and KPI targets. Stock was in the wrong locations, costing more than $1 million in missed sales and cluttered store presentation was undercutting the brand's premium position. Fixing all of this together would turn a stuck business into one built to grow.
The transformation
Diagnostic. I completed a full business diagnostic across every function, including in-store audits and delivered a phased transformation roadmap to the CEO and Founder.
Operating model. I am now building an end-to-end operating model across design, sourcing, buying, merchandising, operations, retail, marketing and finance.
ConsultingRetail transformationBuying and merchandising
Less stock, more margin and room to grow
Buying, Merchandising and Brand Strategy Consultant. International premium fashion brand. UAE, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. 2024 to 2026.
+5%gross margin
+15%sell-through
−4 monthsstock cover
+50%forecasting accuracy
−5%logistics costs
+20%sales growth with 25% less stock vs LY
The challenge
There was no buying and merchandising process and no OTB, so the business had no control over what it bought or how it sold. Teams worked alone. Buyers bought without input from the stores and stores didn't know what they were selling until they unboxed the goods. Replenishment had no controls or performance markers and new orders went to the brand's head office before anyone checked what could be moved between stores. The result was millions of dollars of stock sitting in the warehouse and an average sell-through of just 25%.
The opportunity
The biggest gains were in how the business bought and read its numbers. It bought by country rather than by store, so items sold out in one location and sat unsold in another. The team also tracked sell-through by country, which hid how each store was really performing. Reorders went out just to keep items in stock, without checking the warehouse or other stores first, when some lines should have been allowed to sell out on time. With no OTB limits, buyers ordered as much as they wanted and bought wide without depth, guessing at what customers wanted. And with no feedback from store managers, nobody knew when demand or the customer profile had changed, or which items to avoid. The answer wasn't buying more. It was buying smarter.
The transformation
Buying and merchandising. I introduced a bottom-up OTB framework and pre buying and post buying. A new weekly sell-through report gave the business full visibility of performance for the first time. A structured, differentiated pricing architecture kept margin and gross profit healthy. A new allocation and replenishment framework gave the business control over where stock goes and when.
Team and stores. I restructured the team, hired new people and set clear KPI targets for the store teams.
Brand, marketing and VM. I set up marketing and VM standards and approved store layouts in line with the brand's product mix.
Expansion. I led market entry and expansion across the region.
Your retail team are your eyes and ears. They see what the numbers can't.
Aziza Edden
Career track record
The in-house roles behind the approach, from luxury buying to a 600+ brand marketplace.
In-houseMarketplaceStart-up
450+ brands added and sales more than doubled
Brand and Commercial Head. Alshaya Group, Tamanna Marketplace. 600+ brands. Kuwait and KSA. Team of 12. 2021 to 2024.
106%year-on-year sales growth
600+brands, from fewer than 100
+40%commission income
+40%web traffic
+25%conversion
The challenge
Tamanna was a new marketplace concept, launched in Kuwait with fewer than 100 brands and customers didn't yet know it existed. It needed to scale and drive incremental sales by launching new brands and building its position in the market. And it had to work and become profitable in Kuwait before it could launch in any other market.
The opportunity
Customers came for choice, so growth depended on onboarding the right brands quickly, on terms that also improved profitability. But it wasn't only about more brands. The opportunity was also to reduce customer acquisition cost and grow while spending less on marketing and to improve the technology and the customer journey. Together, this would increase conversion, AOV and GMV.
The transformation
Brands. Onboarded new brands on exclusive agreements and commission terms that improved profitability.
Marketing. Brought customer acquisition cost down through organic growth, content and CRM, growing sales while spending less on marketing.
Technology and customer journey. Improved the site experience and the systems behind it, making it easier to browse and buy and increasing conversion and AOV.
Expansion. Proved the model in Kuwait, then launched in KSA.
FounderFashion brandE-commerce
The founder behind it all, from funding to dispatch
Co-founder, Buying and Creative Director. CBEAUX. $500K+ raised. UAE, KSA and Qatar. 2019 to 2021.
$500K+funding raised
−20%costs, through supplier analysis and efficiencies
+24%customer retention
+50%site engagement
The challenge
I wanted to launch my own brand. The challenge was taking CBEAUX from conception to operational excellence, starting with no suppliers, no platform and no customers and with investor money on the line.
The opportunity
The gap was in one-piece solutions. CBEAUX was built for women who didn't want the headache of deciding what to wear. It was a brand for women, by women, who understood the challenges women of every shape and size face when shopping.
The transformation
As co-founder, every part of the business sat with me.
Strategy. Built the full company strategy and a three-year plan.
Finance. Raised the investment through investor negotiations and managed the full P&L and EBITDA.
Brand. Created the brand identity, tone of voice, packaging and e-commerce platform from scratch.
Product. Developed one-piece collections designed for every shape and size, from range planning and sourcing to pricing and launch.
Marketing. Managed social media and CRM, created digital ads and ran SEO and influencer strategy.
Operations. Set up suppliers, fulfilment and logistics, managed customer service and packed and dispatched orders from the warehouse myself.
Data and reporting. Created all the analytics and reporting from scratch.
Expansion. Took the brand into KSA and Qatar.
In-houseStart-upOmnichannel
Fashion on live TV, launched from scratch
Head of Fashion and Jewellery. HSE24 with MBC Group. 80+ brands. KSA. Team of 6. 2017 to 2019.
+25%month-on-month sales growth
+14%fashion category share
+20%overall business profitability, with fashion a key driver
−10%costs through supplier negotiation
The challenge
Launching a start-up in KSA meant starting with nothing. There was no customer data, no brand awareness and no track record to convince established brands to come on board. Fashion and jewellery had to win over brands and Saudi customers at the same time, on live TV and online, where trading moves in days rather than seasons.
The opportunity
The opportunity was to bring a new way of shopping to KSA, where customers watched products live before buying. In fashion and jewellery, that meant seeing every piece on a model, from brands exclusive to the channel.
The transformation
Strategy. Built the category strategy from scratch, defining the brand portfolio, assortment and launch plan for KSA, with full P&L ownership.
Brands. Won over established brands with no track record to point to and secured partnerships exclusive to the channel.
Airtime and trading. Fought for more live airtime for the category, then worked hand in hand with planning on OTB and stock, using every show's results to shape the next buy.
Across the business. Brought logistics, finance and operations together behind the category, agreeing everything from shipping to commercial terms.
Team. Built a buying team from scratch and led it through launch.
In-houseLuxuryBuying and merchandisingMulti-brand
Eight luxury houses, one commercial discipline
Senior Luxury Fashion Buyer. Chalhoub Retail Group. $20M+ portfolio. 8 brands. 26 stores in 6 countries. 2014 to 2017.
Longchamp, Mulberry, Karl Lagerfeld, Proenza Schouler, Marc Jacobs, Zadig & Voltaire, Alice + Olivia and Paule Ka.
+10%year-on-year sales
+20%sell-through
18 monthsless aged stock
5stores opened in one year
15%above sales and profit targets
The challenge
Eight luxury brands, 26 stores and six very different markets. Every brand had its own DNA and its own customer and each had to be understood inside out before buying. The task was to grow sales, margin and sell-through while making every brand and every store profitable, with aged stock already building up.
The opportunity
The opportunity was to grow all eight brands across the GCC. I introduced new processes, including buying by store, grading every store and classifying stock as basic or fashion. I reviewed stock and regional allocations aggressively, which meant fewer sales driven by markdown and higher full price sell-through and margin. I grew profitability by working hand in hand with retail and marketing, with incentives for store teams on key categories and collections and brand awareness campaigns on the right products.
The transformation
Run like a business. I had every function working to one plan, with budgets built against every KPI.
Brand by brand. I gave each of the eight brands its own buying strategy, built on its DNA and its customer.
A voice for the stores. I set up pre-buy and post-buy feedback, giving store teams a real say in every season's buy.
Windows that match the buy. I planned VM around what was bought and in what depth, with every window mirroring the brand.
Stock where it sells. I used replenishment and store-to-store transfers to keep every store stocked with what its customers wanted.
On the ground. I travelled across the region and worked inside the stores, keeping every buy close to what customers were actually buying.
In-houseBuyingFast fashion
A multi-product fashion trend department
Fashion Buyer, Ladieswear. Landmark Group. 42 stores. UAE, KSA, Kuwait and Qatar. 2012 to 2014.
+40%sales growth vs the previous year
72%sell-through
+10%increase in the trend department's contribution to the total ladieswear business
The challenge
Landmark needed to build and grow its fast fashion offer. That meant spotting global and regional trends and getting them into stores fast, with new suppliers and factories able to deliver at that speed and shorter lead times.
The opportunity
The opportunity was to combine prediction with reaction, setting the direction ahead of the season while staying flexible enough to follow the trends customers were actually wearing.
The transformation
Business strategy. I set a full business strategy across every category.
Sourcing. I used trade shows and fairs to predict trends and scout new suppliers and onboarded them across every category, increasing margin.
New processes. I introduced a critical path, product sign off and close to season buying and kept part of the OTB back so it wasn't all spent six months before the season.
Quality. I introduced stricter quality control processes.
For global fashion and lifestyle brands ready for the GCC. For fourteen years I've been on every side of bringing international brands to this region, inside its biggest retail groups, in the boardroom and as a founder. Now I help global brands get their entry right from the start.
The GCC has one of the highest purchasing powers in the world, a mall culture unlike anywhere else and fast-growing e-commerce. It is a region you cannot enter on autopilot.
The brands that do well arrive with the right partner, a range built for the local demographic, climate, calendar, prices set for each country and operations in place before launch day. The brands that struggle usually copy their home market plan and hope it will travel.
It is unlike any region you have worked in before, but it is also one of the most rewarding, exciting and fast paced regions in the world.
I've sat on the partner's side.
I know what the region's retail groups, department stores and marketplaces look for in a brand because for years I was the one deciding. And I know who to call, so your brand gets in front of the people who make the decisions.
I work for you, not for a distributor or a retail group, so my view on which partner is right for your brand is independent.
14years working across the GCC
450+brands onboarded onto a regional marketplace
80+brands launched for an omnichannel start-up in KSA
8global luxury brands run across 26 stores in 6 countries
3launches into KSA
3CIS markets, where I'm working with brands right now
Routes to market
There's no single right way to launch in the GCC and each route needs something different to succeed.
Franchise partner
Finding the right regional group, negotiating the terms and making sure they represent your brand properly.
Distribution
Finding a distributor who understands your brand as well as you do, can take it right across the region and still protects your margin.
Marketplaces
Getting onto the right platforms in the region, on the right terms and set up to sell from day one.
Joint venture
Finding the right regional group to partner with and shaping a partnership that works for both sides.
Standalone stores
Choosing the right locations, leading discussions with mall management and planning the capex to open each store and the opex to run it.
Local fulfilment
Choosing the right 3PL and holding stock in the region, so online customers get fast delivery, easy returns and cash on delivery.
Most brands combine routes. I help you decide which ones and when.
The best partner isn't the biggest. It's the one who will trade your brand like their own.
Aziza Edden
How we launch together
1
Choose the market and the model
Deciding which countries to enter first and building the business plan.
2
Get in front of the right partners
Introductions to the decision makers through a network built over fourteen years, then negotiating contracts and terms that protect your brand.
3
Build the right range
Shaping your range around the region's culture, its demographics and the customer you're targeting, so the right product lands in the right place at the right price.
4
Set up the operations
Getting stock, content and teams ready before launch, with everyone who sells your brand trained to represent it.
5
Launch and grow
Through the first seasons I stay close to the numbers and to your partners, building on what works so the brand grows from a strong start.
Where global brands go wrong
The calendar
Following your home season, when the GCC's seasons are not the same
Not planning around the region's key moments and replicating what works in your own country
The price
Converting the home price list instead of building from landed cost
Forgetting that duties, VAT and margins differ between countries
The partner
Choosing on size rather than fit
Signing agreements that aren't realistic
Treating the GCC as one country rather than six
The location
Committing to mall locations without knowing the market
Before you clear it, find out why it's still there. The answer is rarely just the buying.
4 min read, Aziza Edden
Every brand with too much aged stock asks me the same question. How do we clear it? It's a fair question, but it skips the most important one. Why is it still here?
Aged stock is where problems from across the business end up. Buying usually gets the blame first and sometimes it deserves it. But it's rarely the only reason a product fails to sell.
Why stock gets stuck
Sometimes the buy was too deep, or the product was wrong for the customer. Just as often the product was right and something else went wrong.
It launched late, so it had half a season to sell instead of a full one. It arrived on time but sat in the stockroom instead of on the shop floor. It reached the floor but was poorly merchandised, so customers never noticed it. Store teams focused on the easy sellers and never pushed it. It went to stores where its customer doesn't shop. Or its rate of sale was slow from the first week and nobody acted on it.
The same aged stock can have many causes and each one needs a different fix.
Find the cause before you clear
If you clear stock without knowing why it stuck, you fix this season and repeat it the next. Each cause points to a different part of the business. A late launch is a critical path problem. Stock in the stockroom is a store operations problem. A slow rate of sale that nobody acted on is a trading problem. Only some of it comes back to buying.
Five questions to ask
When did it land and how many weeks did it actually trade?
Was it on the floor and properly merchandised in every store?
Did it go to the stores where its customer shops?
What was the rate of sale in the first two weeks and what happened next?
Was the buy right for the plan in the first place?
Then clear it properly
Once you know the cause, clearing becomes a plan rather than a panic. Move stock to the stores where it sells, return it to suppliers where your terms allow, use outlet or liquidation channels and keep deep markdowns for last.
Clear the stock, but fix the cause. Otherwise you'll be clearing it again next season.
Blaming the team is the quickest answer to a missed budget. It's almost never the right one.
4 min read, Aziza Edden
The month closes, the numbers are down and the meeting starts. Within minutes someone is being blamed. The store manager blames the buyer, the buyer blames the marketing team, the marketing team blames budget restrictions, the planners blame operations for late stock allocation and the list goes on.
I understand why it happens. Blame is fast and it feels like action. But in all my years in retail, I've rarely seen a budget missed because of one person. The business usually misses it first.
What's usually behind a missed budget
Sometimes the budget itself was never achievable, handed down from the top rather than built with the team. Sometimes the range was wrong for the customer, or the stock arrived late and was allocated to the wrong stores. Sometimes marketing wasn't behind the right products, or campaigns drove customers to stock that wasn't there. Sometimes the team never had clear targets or the reports that would have shown the problem in week two. None of these is fixed by blaming someone in a meeting.
Fix the cause, not the person.
What blame really costs
When people are blamed for problems they didn't create, they stop raising problems early. Bad news gets hidden until it's too late to act. The best people leave and the ones who stay play it safe. The cause is never fixed, so the same budget is missed again next season, with someone new to blame.
Five questions to ask before you blame anyone
Was the budget built with the team, or handed down from the top?
Did the stock arrive on time and was it allocated to the right stores?
Was marketing behind the right products at the right time?
Did the team have clear targets and the reports to track them every week?
When did we first see we were behind and what did we do about it?
Lead, don't blame
When I moved to Dubai, my first call was to my former buyer at River Island, asking if I'd made the right choice. Her support in that moment taught me the difference between a leader and a boss. I've tried to lead that way ever since.
Leading through a missed budget means sitting down with the team and the numbers together, finding the real cause and fixing it. It means giving people clear targets, the tools to track them and the ownership to act early. Teams that feel safe to speak up spot the problem early, not at the end of the month.
A missed budget is a question, not a verdict. Find the answer and the team will help you hit the next one.
Most growing brands know their total profit. Few know which stores earn it and which quietly spend it.
4 min read, Aziza Edden
Ask a business owner with six stores whether the business is profitable and they'll usually know. Ask which store makes the most money and they'll name the one with the highest sales. Very often, that's the wrong answer.
Sales are not profit
A busy store in a premium mall can have rent, service charges and staffing that eat most of its margin. A quieter store on sensible terms can be earning more in real money. When the only number anyone sees is total business profit, the strong stores hide the weak ones and a loss-making store can keep trading for years without anyone noticing.
Busy isn't the same as profitable.
What a store P&L looks like
A store P&L tells the story of every sale. It starts with net sales, what the store actually took after discounts and VAT. Take away what the product cost and you have gross margin. Allow for shrinkage and slow stock and you reach gross profit, what the product truly earned.
Then the store has to pay its own way. Once rent, staff and running costs come off, store profit shows whether it's pulling its weight. Take off its share of country and head office costs and you reach EBITDA and from there net income, the real bottom line.
None of these numbers means much on its own. Set each one against last year and budget and as a share of sales and the stores that are costing you money stand out. The same applies to every channel, where commissions, delivery and returns can turn strong sales into weak profit.
Why most brands don't have one
The data usually lives in different places, with sales in the till system, stock somewhere else, rent with finance and staff costs with HR. Finance closes the books for the whole business and nobody owns the view store by store. The fix doesn't have to start with new software. A well-built spreadsheet, updated monthly, is enough to change how decisions get made.
What changes when you can see it
Lease renewals become negotiations based on facts. Staffing follows footfall. New product goes first to the stores that sell it at full price. And sometimes the most profitable decision is to close a store, though more often the answer is to fix it, by renegotiating the rent, rethinking the staffing or changing the range for the customers who actually shop there.
The habit matters as much as the report. Review store P&L every month in the trading meeting, with the people who can act on it in the room.
If you can't see a store's profit, you can't decide its future.
Open-to-buy, or OTB, is the budget that sets how much stock a business needs to buy each month, season or year, based on projected sales and other key metrics. It keeps buying in line with the sales plan, so the business neither overbuys nor underbuys.
Without it, buying is driven by enthusiasm and supplier minimums. The result is usually overbuying, spending more than you need and watching stock holding grow, or underbuying and not having enough stock to make your sales. Both are damaging to the business and not having an OTB is one of the main reasons stock holding becomes excessive.
What is sell-through and how should I use it?
Sell-through is the percentage of stock sold against stock received. It's one of the key metrics in buying, because it shows how your product is really performing and whether you bought correctly.
Your OTB should be built around a full price sell-through target. If you hit it, your buy weight was in line with your sold weight. If you miss it, you either bought the wrong product, the stock arrived late and didn't trade long enough, or there was too much depth behind it. And if you go over target, it means you didn't buy enough and missed sales opportunities.
Stores and retail
Which KPIs should every store track?
Every retail store has a set of key KPIs that tell the full story. Footfall shows how many people visited the store, transactions show how many sales were made, conversion rate shows how many visitors actually bought and ATV and UPT show how much each customer spent. Read them together and they guide you to the problem. Strong footfall with a weak conversion rate usually means the range isn't attracting the customer, the merchandising isn't appealing, or the sales service isn't good enough. Good conversion with a low ATV means the team isn't building baskets and upselling.
All of these metrics feed into the most important number of all, the store's sales target. Stores trade by working on each metric, deciding which ones to push to hit that target.
How do I make my stores look and sell like a premium brand?
It starts with curated collections, not just product on a rail. The visual merchandiser should follow the buy, so the strongest stories get the most space. Each fixture then shows customers how to wear the look and every window reflects the brand. Clutter does the opposite, however good the product.
The team matters just as much. In a premium store, staff work as stylists, not sales executives. They know the brand and the collection, help customers build the look and that's what turns a beautiful store into a profitable one.
Supply chain and operations
How can I shorten lead times without losing quality?
Lead times are usually lost long before production starts. Decisions come late, approvals are slow and samples go back and forth. A clear critical path with fixed dates for approvals, fits, seal by, cut and production removes the delay.
The supplier base matters too. Factories that move at the speed you need and new suppliers with more capacity can cut weeks off delivery. Stricter quality control along the way means speed never comes at the cost of the product.
Marketing and customers
How should marketing and buying work together?
Both teams work hand in hand. Buying presents the range to marketing and explains what to push, when and how based on the buy. Marketing then uses that information to choose the products best suited to each campaign's goal.
Marketing owns its campaigns and builds a mix of them. Some drive footfall, some are events and some build brand awareness and each one is tracked against its deliverables. Not every campaign needs to be commercial. A limited edition with only a few units may sell little but it can build brand awareness and acquire new customers.
Online
Should my brand sell on marketplaces?
For most brands yes, but only on the right marketplace. What matters most is whether it fits your brand image. Think of it like opening a store in a mall. Would you want your brand next to Primark or next to Sandro? On a marketplace the other brands are your neighbours in the same way, so they should share your positioning.
Once the fit is right, a marketplace brings reach and new customers your own site may never see. It still needs managing like any other channel. Commission, returns and delivery costs can eat into margin, so each marketplace should have its own P&L.
Team
How should a retail team be structured as the business grows?
Around clear ownership. In a small business one person often covers several roles and that works until the business outgrows it. As it grows, each core function needs a clear owner, from buying, planning and merchandising to retail, VM, marketing, e-commerce, supply chain and finance.
Every role needs a job description and KPI targets linked to the business plan, so everyone knows what they own and how success is measured. Structure is what lets a team move without waiting for decisions from the top.
Getting help
What does a retail consultant actually do?
A retail consultant helps a business perform better across every part of retail, from product and stores to marketing, operations, finance and people.
The best ones don't stop at advice. They diagnose the problems, fix the urgent ones, build the processes and tools and train the team to run them.
When is the right time to bring in help?
At any stage. Most businesses only look for help when something goes wrong, but a fresh pair of eyes is just as valuable when things are going well. It spots what the team is too close to see, challenges habits that have stopped working and keeps the business moving forward.
If your business feels stuck, struggling or stretched, that's a good moment to talk. But you don't need a problem to start the conversation.
Working together
Do you work with smaller brands?
Yes. I work with businesses of every size, from brands just starting out to large retail groups. Every engagement is shaped around the stage the business is at. What matters isn't size, it's the ambition behind it.
What do you need from us?
It depends on the work, but essentially three things. Access to all the data the company has today, so I can understand how the business operates. Access to the team, to understand each role, how people are working and the challenges they face. And access to your stores, as well as your e-commerce and marketplace sites.
Do you work on-site?
Yes. I'm based in Dubai and spend time in clients' stores and offices across the GCC and the CIS, with remote work in between visits.
How are fees structured?
Fees depend on the work your business needs. After an initial meeting to understand your business and your requirements, I'll share a proposed plan with the phases I believe it needs and the fee for each.
Only what you choose to send me: your name, brand, email address, phone number and anything you write in a message, by email, WhatsApp, LinkedIn or the contact form.
Why I use it
To reply to you, to arrange and hold our calls and to work with you if we agree a project. If you ask to join the Journal list, I'll use your email to send new pieces.
What I don't do
I don't sell or share your details with anyone for marketing. This site doesn't use tracking or advertising cookies.
How long I keep it
Only as long as I need it for the reasons above. You can ask me to see, correct or delete your details at any time.
