Thursday, 9th of June, 2011

The Whitehouse Institute, 672 Bourke St, Melbourne
6pm Start
Tickets: $40

Tracky Dack Day Launch – Australian Designers show their support for Tracky Dack Day launch. Join us for a spectacular Runway of One Off Tracky Dack collection pieces designed specifically for Tracky Dack Day, by some of Australians most prestigious designers. The cocktail soiree starts at 6pm and limited tickets at $40 are available. Visit here for more information and to purchase your tickets.

Tracky Dack Day is an annual event on July 1, where we are all invited to Dack up and donate to TLC, a national charity who delivers free services that provide emotional and practical support to children and families facing stressful situations related to any health condition.

This launch event has been embraced by the fashion industry, as they rally together to raise awareness for this great cause. Come and join them in doing your bit for the kids in the hospitals.

I will be hosting the event, the fabulous Philip Boon would will working his celebrity magic styling the runway and the creations of the fashionable tracky Dacks include LifewithBird, Ellery, Neo Dia, J’Aton, Dhini, Trimapee, Lui Hon, Alpha60, Carla Zampatti, Aurelio Costarella, Jenny Bannister, Anthony Capon of a.concept, Clarence Chai, Extinct and Rachel Gilbert.

NEW FASHION TREND FORECASTING SEMINARS. Before you go to the Fashion Trade Fairs, be sure to know what you are looking for. Know what was on the runways and what looks are most likely to be penetrating the Australian retail market for Autumn/Winter 2012. No matter what part of the market you are in or how few or how many stores you have, the global fashion trends DO make a difference to your market. Knowing what are going to be major trends helps you to determine the mix of product within your stores and allows you to think about how to interpret those trends for your particular customer segment and demographic markets.

Most businesses I see make mistakes due to lack of foresight, knowledge and planning. Knowledge is power and planning cannot be done without sufficient knowledge – Join me for an insightful look at the upcoming fashion trends for Autumn/Winter 2012 as I discuss how these trends can adapt to different customer segments and how to balance your ranges within these trends. Feel confident that you are buying your range with a mix that will allow you to appeal to your customers as well as create differentiation amongst your competitors.

These seminars will be held in August 2011.

For more information visit the contact page.

Sarah has spent many years honing her skills and specialising in the merchandise function. From the product offer, brand positioning, trend forecasting, marketing strategies, target customer segments, merchandise financial planning, she has a wealth of knowledge and experience and is renowned for her managerial skills and inspires teams to reach new heights.

Do you conduct thorough Post Seasonal Reviews? If not, you are missing one of the most fundamental steps in the buying process and are most likely missing opportunities for growth in your sales and leaving your business extremely vulnerable to unnecessary markdowns.

What is a post seasonal review? It is a dissection and analysis of sales and profit figures to create an overall picture of a season’s performance. This however is not just a financial analysis, it is vital to review these figures combining an analysis of the merchandise, evaluating each style and category to determine why styles were successful and the real reason behind markdowns.

Having bought for and consulted to many of the major retail players in Australia and NZ, I have been conducting post seasonal reviews over the last 25 years now with many different sized companies. What I see is a tendency for businesses to repeat the same mistakes season after season. A good Post Seasonal Analysis can determine a business’s correct product range mix according to their customer segments. One of the hardest things in retail is to measure missed sales; through these reviews, I can indentify where the greatest opportunities for the business is and determine how to fix the problem areas in the range mix, creating option plans that provide you with a “shopping list” for stock according to the businesses opportunities and vulnerabilities.  These reviews are essential to increase sales, decrease markdowns and improve profit for the following season.

Whether you own one store or are a multi site operator, if you are neglecting this fundamental step in the buying process you are playing Russian roulette with your business.

Post Seasonal Analysis Reviews need to be conducted between June and August 2011 before buying your Autumn/Winter 2012 season.

(**For those businesses that have already bought some of their season before the trade fairs, a post seasonal analysis can be conducted creating an option plan, working with what has already been bought and tailoring a shopping list for the remainder of the season).

If you would like to discuss how to make the most of your Autumn/Winter2012 season, contact me on info@sarahgale.com.au