product
We are growing our core baby market
Attracting pregnant women and parents of children under three is vital for customer acquisition, brand engagement and repeat purchasing. The following have contributed to a growth in baby clothing to 46% of clothing mix vs 30% last year.
- increased design choice for classic and contemporary consumer taste
- introduction of My First collection, a broad range for newborn babies supported by a product marketing campaign; we know comfort
- offered greater choice and newness in our newborn daywear ranges
- created more gifting options, including 8-piece sets and gift in a bag
We continue to focus on baby-to-child development, expanding our developmental toys and successful m play toy range.
We are giving even better value
Our consumers expect high-quality products and excellent value for money, so we continuously improve our offer. In the last year, we've actioned the following:
- increased the number of easy-to-shop, head-to-toe outfits across sets, packs, and dresses to nearly half of our total clothing mix in 2023 vs a quarter in 2022
- relaunched Mothercare Essentials - an offer of key pieces for outfit building that help increase retail basket size
- focused ranges by optimising styles, reducing options, and driving volume per line to increase margin
- grown our 'good' price entry but also increased our 'best' mix to broaden the appeal and accessibility of our brand
We are using responsibly sourced cotton
In response to parents' growing desire to shop sustainably, the majority of cotton in our ranges developed from 2023 is responsibly sourced, fully traceable and documented throughout the supply chain.
Our manufacturing partners are sourcing organic and sustainable cotton for their retail customers, and all parts of the supply chain must be engaged and approved. Currently, our manufacturing partners are sourcing sustainable cotton through an established BCI route (Better Cotton Initiative). The BCI uses the mass balance programme to combine responsibly sourced cotton with conventional cotton in the supply chain.
We are strengthening manufacturing relationships
We have strong partnerships with our manufacturers, which are longstanding. We
- drive a strategy which continues to be right factories, right product, right countries to ensure the best product output for the customer
- have consolidated our core supply base, which has driven greater value for each partner and further strengthened manufacturing relationships
- employ a sourcing strategy which supports our growth plan and, where needed, introduce new specialist manufacturers, particularly in Home & Travel
- continue to deliver strong on-time availability of stock into markets to maximise seasonal sales.
