Challenge
In the beauty business, colors change with each season, making it critical for L’Oréal and its retail partners to correctly time the sell-through of last season’s items. Delivery to shelves of the next season’s cosmetics products is equally challenging.
In the past, L’Oréal lacked the visibility into store- and warehouse-level inventory data needed to “size and time” final shipments into stores. It was difficult to efficiently achieve a sell-through of each season’s colors. As a result, L’Oréal had to mark down a lot of items, thus eroding margins and delaying the availability of newer items.
Solution
Using Market6, today L’Oréal has gained a whole new picture of its business.
By combining information on store-level inventory with forecast demand, the L’Oréal team has a more accurate read on store inventory. They also know when they should start shipping next season’s items to stores, as they can balance a timely sell-through of older products with the availability of new items.
Inventory levels are pulled on a weekly basis, allowing teams to understand the liability of discontinued items and make sure the stores have a good supply of existing items.
Impact
Market6 gives L’Oréal the ability to smoothly transition from one season to the next, timing the sell-through of older items, freeing up shelf space for new products and reducing the need for markdowns. Access to Market6 reports also helps L’Oréal match baseline store-level supply to demand.
In one recent example, L’Oréal used Market6 reports and analytics to increase inventory levels by 82% as the new fashion season opened, enabling a 42% gain in sales on new items.