I was interviewed by the BBC earlier today about Dr Martens and their recent financial results – a 55% drop in profits in its half-year results.
Ouch.
Investors responded in kind with the subsequent drop in share price.
When looking at the assortment of the brand, it’s not hard to see that they have fallen into the trap of doing too much. Too many styles that look the same. Too many colors. Too much confusion as to what the point of view of the brand is.
CEO Kenny Wilson has noted that there is weakness in their wholesale performance and I have no doubt this is related, in part, to their over-assorting.
Too much choice doesn’t help the customer or the wholesale book of business. Too many products can dilute a brand and exhaust the customer, especially when many styles look identical.
Doc Martens needs to give the boot to the excessive number of SKU’s they currently carry. Instead, lock in on the best-performing products and test the market with newness; that is the only way to curate the right product assortment.
And by right, I mean a profitable product assortment.
