Rebalancing a merchandising function
London landmark, the National Gallery
The merchandising consultancy Flourish can provide to a business really is bespoke. Sometimes we’re brought in to help with one very specific tool or operational problem. At other times, we might be asked to work at a more strategic level within a wider business. That was very much the case with the National Gallery.
As well as housing some of the nation’s most important collections and being a much-loved landmark, the National Gallery also has shops and a thriving ecommerce arm. The Gallery’s commercial arm, National Gallery Global, approached us late in 2022 to help revitalise – and rebalance – its in-house merchandising function.
From a fragmented approach…
Initially, we were tasked with looking at some of the fundamentals of merchandising at the Gallery.
We rebalanced budgeting, planning and ways of working to the merchandising function, improving the effectiveness of roles and responsibilities. We also reviewed:
The product hierarchy, to make sure it was manageable and reflective of the products that were actually being bought,
The range, to make sure that lines were performing and aligned to the Gallery, and
The pricing architecture, consolidating price points to make them clearer for customers and to maintain profitability.
… to a cohesive new structure
Working closely with the merchandising team, the buying team and the design team, as well as bringing in wider functions such as retail and ecommerce, we established a new strategic approach and structure, supported by a pack of practical templates. These changes allow each function to own its individual part of the wider planning process, so the Gallery benefits from a strong, cohesive approach every season.
Alongside this strategic work, we also supported the merchandising team with new job descriptions at every level, making sure they’re as robust as possible and ensuring team members are trained to deliver the revised approach. This has redefined their roles in a positive way, boosting confidence in financial planning and stock management.
Plans are great (well, we think they are), but they’re nothing without effective tools and processes to help you achieve them.
As well as the big-picture strategic work, we got into the nitty-gritty of delivering the merchandising function on a day-to-day basis. That included creating:
A bespoke category mix,
Stock management tools to help the team plan, forecast and trade in season, and which show the buying and design teams the Open To Buy that’s available for them to spend, and
A bespoke reporting tool that puts data from the Gallery’s new system into a logical format, helping the team spot areas to optimise and risks to mitigate.
“Flourish has worked closely with our teams to create bespoke and structured merchandise reports” explains senior merchandiser, Christine Haralambous. “These have significantly improved our processes and reporting to key stakeholders in the company.”
Practical tools
The long term plan
Having put a new strategic approach in place, along with systems and processes that will help the team deliver year after year, the team was confident, revitalised and ready to manage the day-to-day merchandising for the Gallery on their own.
Of course, we’ll still be on hand to answer questions, offer guidance and provide support for ad-hoc consultancy projects, but the merchandising function now has strong foundations that will support it going forwards.
“The Flourish team has been a fantastic support for us as they are always just a phone call away and are willing to help and support us at all hours... We would highly recommend.”
—CHRISTINE HARALAMBOUS, SENIOR MERCHANDISER
Plot twist
Just as we were preparing to take that (small) step back, news came in of upcoming changes in the team. We’ll be stepping up in whatever way we’re needed to support the team as it navigates staffing changes over the coming months. Whether that means helping with the recruitment process, providing support from a distance, or stepping in to cover shortages ourselves, it’s this level of flexibility that makes Flourish so valuable.
All case study images: © National Gallery Global Limited