Ann: FY24 Trading Update, page-67

Yea okay cheers.

I think we have to be careful there then. The new CEO has highlighted that he wants key events to take place in order to smooth the sales curve over the year. From what I understand, he also wanted to add smaller 'events' in between the main ones (IMO Dinner club). In my research and conversations, I would suggest that the Halloween products were launched at the time that it was due to the overall strategy, rather than the dinner club products not being taken up by the market.

The dinner club products were small, and I saw this range as testing the market with new ideas. Additionally, to add weight to this idea, I believe it was inspired by Zanda White (Chief of product sourcing). She attended a design expo in Europe earlier in the year where there were very similar items being shown. It was new, outside of the box, and only held focus on the website for a short period.

On the other hand, the Halloween products on offer were noticeably increased this year and had/have a longer marketing/focus period. This suggests to me that the increase in range was planned for and part of a co-ordinated strategy the CEO has introduced rather than bringing forward the release due to poor sales of a range before hand.

This is all my own analysis and opinion. There will be hits and misses. The new team is learning the market. However, if I was to take a step back, it makes more sense that this items are part of strategy rather than rushing to achieve sales as those team members may be thinking.

Hot tip: Marrickville is the testing store. You can see the new products there before they are released on the web and in other stores across the country.

Cheers,
A