John Lewis, Iceland, and Fenwick bosses outline growth opportunities for 2023

Despite the cost-of-living crisis looming large in retail, there are still growth opportunities to be had.

Retail Gazette talks to retail leaders to find out where the big opportunties lie for their businesses.

Pippa Wicks, executive director, John Lewis

Anyday

“We know that our partners, customers and suppliers will continue to be impacted by the cost of living in 2023, so our focus remains on keeping prices as affordable as possible.

“We launched our Anyday range to offer more affordable lines across fashion and home and it’s been our most successful own-brand launch ever.

“We will be expanding this range this year to ensure our customers continue to have a large collection of high-quality and affordable products to choose from for all life’s moments. We’ve also seen a huge uptick in customer demand for energy-saving gadgets from air dryers to air fryers, and we expect this demand to continue to grow in 2023.

Sustainability

“Sustainability is another area which presents a huge opportunity for us.

“With new partnerships with thelittleloop and Hurr, we’re encouraging customers to adopt more sustainable shopping habits by offering them the chance to rent their clothing, alongside offering recycling initiatives such as FashionCycle.

“We’re also committed to ensuring all John Lewis product categories have a ‘buy back’ or ‘take back’ option by 2025, with all own-brand products made with circular design principles in mind from 2028 – we look forward to progressing this goal next year.

Richard Walker, managing director, Iceland

Winning new customers from those trading down

Walker explains: “As people continue to cut down on household costs, Iceland is seeing an increase in customers through its doors, who may have once gone to more expensive retailers to shop.

“Those new customers, some of whom may never have been to Iceland before, provide a huge growth opportunity for us and we know we have something competitive to offer them in return.”

John Edgar, CEO, Fenwick

Omnichannel investment

Fenwick boss John Edgar has found that department store chain’s online channel is “still growing exponentially” but stores remain crucial to the brand.

“I want to ensure that we’re offering customers a curated and premium edit in all channels with trademark Fenwick hospitality, wherever and however they decide to shop with us.”

Edgar says Fenwick will be “investing significantly” in both its digital business and stores this year.

“The role of personal shopping, concierge, and the interplay between stores and digital is becoming increasingly important, and we are continually looking at ways in which we can make the relationship between our online and in-store offerings as seamless as possible,” he says.

“We want to emphasise our position as the go-to location for premium products across categories from fashion and beauty to lifestyle, in-store and online.”

Paul Marchant, CEO, Primark

Store expansion

Primark boss Paul Marchant says store expansion and growing its in-store experience is teh fashion giant’s biggest opportunity.

Marchant says: “Our stores will always be at the heart of our business, so investing in our expansion plans and in-store experiences will be our biggest opportunity.

“We’ve announced plans to open 27 new stores in the 2023 financial year, adding 1 million sq foot of additional selling space, now across 15 international markets.

“We want to give customers more reasons to shop with us, including using partnerships such as Netflix, NBA, Disney and Greggs to drive shoppers to store, as well as our click-and-collect childrenswear trial that launched late last year.”

Maria Hollins, managing director, Ann Summers

Stores

“Our biggest growth opportunity in 2023 will continue to be our stores. Post-pandemic consumers are more engaged with the store experience – this plays well to our exceptional service and advice.”

“An exciting opportunity for us comes with the potential of new partners. Early 2023 we will be launching with Debenhams, a partner historically strong in the lingerie market.”

Will Crumbie, CEO, FatFace

Digital and international expansion

“Over the next 12 months, we see digital as continuing to be the biggest growth opportunity for us.

“There is huge potential in our website and partnerships to continue expanding our customer base and awareness.

“In addition to this, our North American business continues to grow strongly, and we’ll be continuing our US expansion in the Michigan area, as well as opening our first Canadian store this spring.”

Lyssa McGowan, CEO, Pets at Home

Omnichannel growth

Pets at Home boss Lyssa McGowan is also focusing on omnichannel growth as she sees this as “a huge opportunity in the year ahead”.

“As consumers increasingly want to shop how and when they want, our omnichannel approach is key,” she tells Retail Gazette.

“Our unique omnichannel pet care ecosystem, which blends the best of store retail with the flexibility of online and click and collect, is a true differentiator.”

Nathan Williams, chief operating officer, Mamas & Papas

Accessibility and service

“Our momentum will continue into 2023 by making our ranges even more accessible to our customers in our home and overseas markets and, as a brand, becoming even more helpful to new and expectant parents to meet more of their needs and create lasting loyalty.”