With the growth of e-commerce and omnichannel retail, consumers are changing their buying habits and preferences more frequently and expect retailers to keep pace with their expectations.
To ensure Kohl’s offers the most relevant product, the company has taken steps to improve our speed to market by shortening product lead times from concept to delivery by as much as 40 percent in our women's proprietary brands. Greater speed in our process means customers can count on Kohl's to have the latest products, styles and trends informed by testing and in season re-orders. From a performance standpoint, Speed will be key in driving sales increases with leaner inventories and improved profit margins.
Kohl's began testing a speed strategy in the juniors division with SO® in 2014 and has since rolled out the model to apparel with focus on seven women's brands including Sonoma, Apt. 9, LC Lauren Conrad and Candie's. The strategy has uncovered notable time-savings efficiencies and delivered more compelling product to the hands of customers faster than ever before. Early results have been encouraging and the strategy will roll out to home and footwear this year.