March 2, 2017
Joan Maxwell, former VP of Merchandising at Vera Bradley, shares a nuanced perspective on the often laborious line review meeting.
During my tenure at Vera Bradley, we worked to create a process for product development that guaranteed success. The keystone meeting within this process became our line review, as it allowed us to plan and manage multiple seasons concurrently. Line reviews are critical to the development of emotionally charged products that excite customers and exceed their expectations. We found it a worthy pursuit to make these meetings as efficient and effective as possible.
Here are a few tips:
Make space for the voice of the customer and test concepts early with key consumer groups in order to:
Ultimatley, everyone in the room should participate, not just the senior players. And lastly, be sure to end the meeting with agreement on the priorities for the season. Here’s hoping your Line Review Meetings inspire many future bestsellers!
To provide a little insight into what’s likely coming down the pike, we’ve rounded up the recent statistics that we think retailers should keep top of mind over the next twelve months. From operational efficiencies to digital transformation to responsible fashion, here are 55 stats that we believe are key indicators of what’s to come in the new year.
One team’s success doesn’t have to come at the other’s expense. In fact, it’s proven that brands perform better when these two groups work together.
In this time of of fluctuating costs and economic uncertainty, brands should consider re-evaluating pricing strategies and architecture, balancing the need to protect margins and brand integrity while driving sales.