Introduction

Recreation Unlimited is a global apparel and sportswear company facing declining market share. They are seeking to improve their digital customer experience and understand broader organizational impacts of change.

Business situation

The consumer products industry is seeing increasing eCommerce sales from traditional brick-and-mortar retailers, e-tailers and direct-to-consumer manufacturers that is changing how the industry competes. Despite being known for its high-quality performance and lifestyle products, Recreation Unlimited has not successfully reacted to changing customer experience preferences and lags behind competition in eCommerce sales. Below are additional details about the Recreation Unlimited:

Company

• Recreation Unlimited was founded in 1952 in the United Kingdom
• $11 billion in global revenue
• 32,800 employees globally
• 200 company-owned retail locations

Product offering

• Men’s, women’s and children’s t-shirts, jackets, hoodies, pants and shorts
• Sportswear and equipment associated with soccer, basketball, football, tennis, running, etc.

Market and customers

• Competes globally while currently having the largest market share in Europe. Growth markets include Latin America, Asia-Pacific and Africa
• Currently 5% of sales are via eCommerce vs. an industry average of 10%

People and organization

• Turnover has been high amongst younger employees
• Employee satisfaction surveys have historically been great, however, they have started to decline over the past couple years
• Recreation Unlimited is a very hierarchical organization
• Spending on training programs has stopped over the past few years

Problem statement

The client has engaged Deloitte to drive top-line growth through eCommerce, specifically targeting an aggressive +40% annual growth in direct-to-consumer digital channels over the next five years. The client also has asked to incorporate organizational considerations (talent, organization, etc.) in the recommendation.