Transformation Programme for Europe’s

No 1 Department Store

Spain’s 2nd biggest retail group and Europe’s no 1 department store with a turnover of €8.5b and 91 stores www.elcorteingles.es selling everything from Fashion to Electricals.

El Corte Inglés is a retail icon in Spain with an enviable market position. Increasing competition from Inditex on fashion and the development of Amazon has made a focus on efficiency and profitability important to maintain its strong position.

ECI had identified the need to introduce a more data-led approach to buying and wanted to build a merchandising function, which was my brief. I identified that the main challenges were:

Providing consistent and reliable data to support trading and planning decisions

Establishing the new operating model across the diverse divisions

Change management to build sustainable success

Developing a Merchandising function in a market that typically splits planning and trading responsibilities

Success will deliver a significant reduction in stock cover and markdown spend as well through business reporting that supports planning and control, data-driven decision making, clearer roles and responsibilities and capability development.

I identified a vision and road map for change and acted as an Executive consultant for 4 years on this ambitious transformation programme providing industry best practice. To deliver such a large programme of change, it was clear that more external resource was required and First Friday provided associates to support the project adding valuable industry and change perspective. Our collaboration ensured that the client benefited from a broader approach.