Adam Rose was a Trading Director at Debenhams for over 30 years experience. He has managed various different categories at Debenhams from menswear to childrens and home where he was responsible for driving product and commercial strategy for the business unit. He was also involved in the buyout by a consortium of private equity sponsors in 2003 and worked under many different CEO's before leaving in September 2017.
How has the customer changed? Well I suppose that this is opinion rather than fact. I think as beauty has grown and different brand houses have come in I think newer customers within the beauty market versus the overall shape of the Debenhams customer is probably getting marginally younger. However, that beauty customer is not going into the other parts of the store.
The Debenhams overall customer probably isn't really changing quickly enough. If you look through all the market stats, the market share, it peaks in the older tiers of age group in the way they measure it, it's very low when you get to below 25 and hasn't really shifted at all.
I think that's one you're never really going to be able to measure properly. I think there is a slow but definite improvement in the buying and focus on the buying side, but it's a very small and gradual change. There is a lot of disruption going on there because of all the changes, or the anticipated changes to structure, and then there is-- Trying to think of the word. You've had all different functions going into consultation because everyone was reviewing the structure.
Well I think that the promotional calendar has got more competitive in order to keep fighting for that space. I would have to be inclined to agree that yes, it's more so been through activity like that than big strides being changed in the product improvement. If divisions are going through consultation and people are being disrupted and a sourcing function is being dismantled, for want of a better word, I think that it takes Debenhams a good few months at least to be able to change their product with their supply base and no disruptions. It must be very small but subtle changes that are being made. I do think they're being made, but I think holding enough market share in a competitive market has got to be more to do with price promotions than it has with changes in the customers they're picking up on.
Adam Rose was a Trading Director at Debenhams for over 30 years experience. He has managed various different categories at Debenhams from menswear to childrens and home where he was responsible for driving product and commercial strategy for the business unit. He was also involved in the buyout by a consortium of private equity sponsors in 2003 and worked under many different CEO's before leaving in September 2017.