Sue Cobb16/03/2015

Ocado Party Category

challenges and changes

Initial issues to overcome in the categoryBack in September 2014 there were significant gaps in the range, there were no licences. There were major price errors and there was no collaboration with the Paper Tableware department. Price issues • Our best-selling set of decorations was the set of 3 Floral Fiesta Honeycomb Decorations. • There were 3 sets different sets of honeycomb decorations from the same supplier with the same cost prices but they all had different prices ranging

between £5 to over £8, obviously the cheapest one was the best seller and the other two were poor sellers. • We also had fabric bunting being sold for less than paper bunting and the Superhero bunting, was being sold with a cost price of £2.30 and a retail

price of £2.76 for 2 months. Gaps• We were missing out on licenced party themes, for example frozen, minions, Spiderman etc which were doing well across all categories but we had

no offering for this in party. • We also had almost 40 different styles of bunting, but no balloons or party poppers.

Exposure• There was very limited exposure on the site for party lines, there were no lines on the homepage or check out and there were no banners or

promotions to push sales for the existing lines Collaboration • We were not offering any full ranges across Paper Tableware and Party because they are separate categories. However, Ocado should be able to offer

full party ranges regardless of who the areas are owned by, there’s no reason to not communicate and work together to do what’s best for the customers and the business, this could help sales for both areas and encourage customer to buy into ranges rather than individual items.

Solutions:• The party category and the paper tableware category now have regular catch ups and joint supplier meetings so that going forward we are

maximising sales by offering full ranges.• There is now a years promotional plan in place which coincides with paper tableware category and there are graphic banners on the site and there

are lines regularly placed on homepage or check out. • I did a lot of work on balancing the pricing on the existing lines while maintaining a healthy margin across the category• I delisted poor sellers and built up a new party range using new suppliers and including licence's.

Suppliers• Last year the main suppliers proved to

be expensive for decorations and favours and they do not offer current licences, and while they were and are continuing to work well for Paper tableware, they have not had strong sales across the party category.

• Considering that previously there were several issues on the category with incorrect prices and certain lines being sold at cost. It’s not a good sign that these were still not very strong sellers.

• The value lines from suppliers, which was previously ranged were extremely poor sellers and are still more expensive than the new core party range.

• The majority of the current party range is now sourced from suppliers who offer competitive pricing and a variety of licences and colours

• We are also now offering Illoom light up balloons Balloons, which have proved very popular with our customer, these are Tesco price matched at £3.50 per pack of 5

£0.80p each

New Licences• The Disney Princess & Amazing Spiderman licences are selling well with the customers • The new Frozen lines and Minions lines have been selling out quickly as expected. The supplier has a lack of stock at the moment as

some lines have done so well. • Upcoming trends in licences to tie in with new film releases Avengers (already selling fast) Starwars, Jurassic park

Cash Basket (weeks 1 to 11) YOY growth

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11£0.00

£0.01

£0.02

£0.03

£0.04

£0.05

Week NumberTotal

£0.00

£0.05

£0.10

£0.15

£0.20

£0.25

£0.30

All Selected Items

PARTY BANNERS & BUNTING

PARTY CANDLES & SPARKLERS

PARTY CONFETTI & PARTY POPPERS

PARTY DECORA-TIONS & BALLOONS

PARTY PARTY BAGS & FAVOURS

PARTY PARTY GAMES & PINATAS

PARTY PARTY HATS & ACCESSORIES

£0.00

£0.02

£0.04

£0.06

£0.08

£0.10

£0.12

2013201420142015

Cash Sales (weeks 1 to 11) YOY growth

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11£0

£1,000

£2,000

£3,000

£4,000

£5,000

£6,000

£7,000

£8,000

£9,000

Week Number

Total£0

£10,000

£20,000

£30,000

£40,000

£50,000

£60,000

All Selected Items

PARTY BANNERS & BUNTING

PARTY CANDLES & SPARKLERS

PARTY CONFETTI & PARTY POPPERS

PARTY DECORA-TIONS & BALLOONS

PARTY PARTY BAGS & FAVOURS

PARTY PARTY GAMES & PINATAS

PARTY PARTY HATS & ACCESSORIES

£0

£2,000

£4,000

£6,000

£8,000

£10,000

£12,000

£14,000

£16,000

£18,000

£20,000

2013201420142015

Cash Margin (weeks 1 to 11) YOY growth

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11£0

£500

£1,000

£1,500

£2,000

£2,500

£3,000

£3,500

Week NumberTotal

£0

£5,000

£10,000

£15,000

£20,000

£25,000

All Selected Items

PARTY BANNERS & BUNTING

PARTY CANDLES & SPARKLERS

PARTY CONFETTI & PARTY POPPERS

PARTY DECORA-TIONS & BALLOONS

PARTY PARTY BAGS & FAVOURS

PARTY PARTY GAMES & PINATAS

PARTY PARTY HATS & ACCESSORIES

£0

£1,000

£2,000

£3,000

£4,000

£5,000

£6,000

£7,000

£8,000

£9,000

2013201420142015