Internet & E-commerce
Exit Preparation/Positioning of Entrepreneurial Specialty Online Retailer: Estimating Market Size and Growth Outlook of a Niche Sporting Goods Market to Support the Sale Process
Conduct a 2-week market study to establish product and user profiles, market drivers and trends, competitive landscape, and channel dynamics, as well as to build a market size model establishing historical and projected market growth rates. Gotham undertook a bottom-up approach to analyze this niche market with no available market data, including: extensive secondary research; ~50 interviews with retail stores and industry experts; consumer surveys; and creation of 3 market sizing models. By enabling the client’s offering materials to show attractive growth prospects, the company was sold to a private buyer at an attractive valuation.
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Business Strategy Assessment of a Home Décor Importer & Wholesaler: Clarifying Channel Strategy, Inventory Rightsizing, and eCommerce Upside
Conducted business strategy assessment to chart the exit path for a PE-owned full-service home-décor importer and wholesaler. To this end, Gotham: analyzed channel profitability and modeled the impact of eliminating brick-and-mortar channels; developed a plan to optimize inventory levels and rightsize the fixed cost structure; interviewed customers to establish the company’s reputation/positioning; and visited competitor showrooms to profile key competitors. With a clear picture of internal opportunities and market and competitive dynamics, Gotham developed a plan to more than double EBITDA through structural cost reductions and accelerated eCommerce growth. The company launched an effort to capture these opportunities to position itself for a successful exit.
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Customer & Market Due Diligence Of Foodservice Distributor/DTC Fulfillment Services Provider: Deciphering Nascent DTC Frozen Foods Fulfillment Market
Conducted 3-week customer & market due diligence to establish: frozen DTC fulfillment market size and the ability to sustain COVID-19 bump; the target’s competitive positioning in the frozen DTC fulfillment market; and the target’s reputation/positioning with foodservice distribution customers. Gotham: mapped universe of 350+ frozen DTC food companies; built bottom-up frozen DTC fulfillment market model; conducted 11 DTC fulfillment customer interviews; established competitive landscape of frozen DTC fulfillment services providers; and conducted 13 interviews and 73 online customer surveys of foodservice distribution customers. Gotham’s findings enabled our client to move forward confidently with the potential acquisition.
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Strategic Merchandising at Large Direct Marketing Company: Developing Category Management Capabilities with Item-level Strategies
Worked with the senior merchandising team to develop capabilities and strategies for all key elements that constitute strategic merchandising -- assortment strategy, new product introduction, catalog/web placement strategy, product lifecycle strategy, and pricing strategy. With strategic approach, CatalogCo now meeting SKU targets, properly planning media placement, and able to identify and fill gaps in assortment.
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Assortment Optimization at Large Catalog Company: SKU, Pricing, Mix, and Placement Rationalization
Led effort to optimize 45,000 active SKU assortment, which yielded ~$7MM in cost savings. Reclassified 45,000 SKUs into approximately 500 classes of merchandise to align with how merchandisers thought about products. Developed reporting to review performance over time, by price point, by occasion, by performance, etc. Optimized assortment by class to eliminate poor-performing items and reduce cannibalization. Adjusted pricing to ensure competitive pricing and proper mix by price point. Determined most efficient catalog and web placement.
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Operations Improvements at Large Catalog Retailer: Strategic Merchandising to Drive Growth
Led transformation of merchandising group from item-pickers for catalogs to fact-based multi-channel category managers. Started with assortment optimization, quickly yielding ~$7MM in savings. Then developed processes for all key elements of strategic merchandising and supporting planning and reporting tools. Transformation has positioned CatalogCo to grow top-line and EBITDA via fact-based precision and a new agility in new product, placement, and ad-spend decision-making.
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