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ECCO Shoes Oxford leads sales across Europe
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ECCO Shoes Oxford is currently celebrating the best sales figures of all 400 ECCO shoe outlets in Europe. Hilary and Harry Fletcher, Joint Partners, took on the first ECCO franchise in the UK in 2004 having sold ECCO shoes in their shop at 20 New Inn Hall Street since 1998. The ECCO parent company, based in Denmark, has acknowledged Oxford’s success by awarding the business the ‘ECCO Strive Award’ for best retail performance in the second quarter 2006. Even more impressive is that the 35% sales increase for the year to date has been achieved against the background of a largely static shoe retail market. Hilary Fletcher comments, “We are delighted with the success and recognition we have achieved. It has been a lot of hard work to get our business to where it is now. Our staff really deserve to be recognized for all the effort they have put in.” |
So how has ECCO Oxford bucked the market trend? By putting a lot of time and effort into preparing for growth, including employing the help of business coach Paul Avins to advise on growing the business. Harry comments, “We could see that the business was really taking off. The online and mail order side in particular is growing rapidly, with a 70% increase over the last 6 months and we just weren’t sure that we knew how to really capitalise on the growth. ECCO has updated their product range and diversified into new areas including the contemporary Smart range designed for work and slightly more formal wear, also golfing shoes and recreational shoes plus specialist walking shoes. Because of the success of these new styles we knew we had to step up our business plan to manage the increase in demand.”
Harry and Hilary realised that they needed to adapt to succeed in the growing market and after attending a seminar on Business Growth, run by Paul Avins, they started work with Paul in April 2006. Hilary says, “Paul made us focus on the next step for our business and to look beyond our immediate situation. He has helped us to change our mentality and to look at all aspects of our business so that we can put the systems and processes in place to allow us to grow. It sounds simple but we needed the outside input to make us see what was achievable and how we needed to change in order to make the most of business growth rather than just coping with it.”
Harry concludes, “We now feel confident that we have everything in place to provide the customer service that complements our quality shoes. We are really looking forward to making the most of our extensive new range of styles and being more than able to meet our customers’ needs. Winning the ECCO Strive award is just the beginning.”
Amongst the changes that have been introduced to the business are:
- 50% increase in staff over the last year
- Improved training and development for staff
- Implementation of systems and processes to test, measure and track all stages of the selling process from stock control to despatch
- Upgraded infrastructure including IT
- Optimise online sales through investment in technology, sales and marketing
- Appointment of Customer Service Manager and Team
- Reduction in routine activities for Joint Partners allowing focus on future business development
Contact the team now on +44 (0)1869 278900 or email team@paul-avins.com to find out how he can help you and your team achieve your business dreams.
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