Pinpointing Neye’s Commercial Transition Opportunities
NEYE is a Danish retailer and somewhat of a high street hero, selling bags, rucksacks and travel cases in its 42 stores across Denmark and online. The store was established by Johannes Neye in 1881, and is today known for its wide range of internationally and nationally recognized quality brands, including; Samsonite, Fjällräven, Day Et, Markberg, and Aura among many others.
Challenge
Never a brand to stand still, and in light of today’s digitally savvy consumers and a rapidly evolving retail landscape, together with Sunrise, NEYE decided to reflect upon where the brand is today and where it should be going in order to ensure relevance among its existing, loyal customers while attracting new ones securing continued growth. Vital questions had to be asked including: Which consumers should we focus on – all the way from products to communication?, how can we maintain relevance among them now and in the future?, Where does Neye need to be visible – what are the most important touchpoints and how should we be present in these?, and lastly, when and which initiatives do we begin with, and how should they be prioritized?
Solution
A total of 14 in-depth interviews and 50 combined observational and on-the-spot interviews were conducted spanning three cities across the country with online and offline consumers and five product categories in order to explore core needs, experiences, thoughts, feelings and actions related to the buying process.
Building on findings and patterns from the exploitative research phase, Sunrise surveyed more than 1,000 nationally representative customers and 1,300 of NEYE’s existing customers from its database. These initial findings were verified and converted into a broad understanding of NEYE’s most valuable customer segments, a mapping of their buying journeys and a foundation for the management team to further build its strategy upon.
Through the analysis it became clear that NEYE had a remarkably strong foundation, with exceptionally high awareness and other associated attributes such a quality, high service and expertise. However, to compete with more modern, retailers both online and offline, NEYE needed to look for opportunities that could add a higher level of value to the brand in order to attract the primary segment; a brand that can inspire and ignite passion within fashion and quality-conscious bag devotees.
Result
NEYE gained a detailed understanding of its existing and potential customers, including key insights relating to each phase of the journey. Furthermore, drivers and barriers outlining issues and opportunities and NEYE’s performance in comparison to competitors were delivered. The insights were followed up with a number of strategic recommendations to support the strategic work of NEYE’s management team; providing insights into how NEYE could transition its brand successfully and eventually conquer market share within the category.
Sunrise’s approach has given us valuable insights into the customers’ experiences before, during and after a purchase within the category, including the challenges consumers face in each of the buying phases and how NEYE is performing across the customer journey. The insights have helped us understand where NEYE is performing well and where to enhance, and which phases to prioritize and focus on to optimize our strategic investments
Camilla Raffnsøe, CEO, NEYE
