Case studies

In the consumer & retail industry, A.T. Kearney works with a variety of global companies. The following examples illustrate some of our clients' exciting successes.

Replenishment and logistics strategies for a large merchandise retailer
A leading U.S. discount retailer significantly increased revenues through segment-specific replenishment strategies and improvements in promotional in-stocks, and identified more than $100 million in savings through strategies for labor and store inventories. [more]

Category profitability improvement for specialty retailer
As part of a turnaround strategy, a specialty retailer identified $70 million in profitability opportunities and developed tactics that would quickly deliver results. [more]

Store operations improvement for a leading U.S. women's fashion retailer
Based on improvements to key store processes and its labor mix across hundreds of stores and several banners, a fashion retailer realized over 10 percent savings on its store payroll. [more]

Strategic supplier relations and supply chains
One of the leading retailers in the UK regained their market leadership and competitive advantage with a more strategic approach to suppliers and supply chains, including a self-correcting collaborative model. [more]

Value chain transformation for a large mass merchandiser
For a large mass merchandiser, a value chain transformation project identified more than $200 million in savings through increased produce freshness and reductions in sourcing costs throughout their supply chain. [more]

Simplification in the food ingredient industry
A leading food ingredient manufacturer was able to quickly and efficiently reduce complexity across business units—taking out 20% of fixed costs—and more importantly paving the way for a major manufacturing footprint consolidation. [more]

Strategic growth plan for China market
One of the premier food companies implemented a growth strategy for the China market, plus the benefits from a number of related quick-win initiatives. [more]

Strategy for a segmented supply chain for a leading NA discount retailer
A major discount retailer's targeted productivity program identified over $100 million in supply chain reductions from distribution centers and stores' backroom labor expenses. [more]

Process improvement for buying organization and suppliers
A fashion retailer’s innovative processes are reducing supplier lead-times by 20%, allowing buyers to effective manage on-time deliveries, and eliminating time-consuming paperwork. [more]

Supply chain transformation for a big box retailer
A multinational retailer gained a detailed plan and a roadmap for its supply chain transformation with a two-tier distribution network and more than $1 billion in annual savings. [more]

Category management strategy and capability development
A transportation company with a significant retail business implemented a category management approach that resulted in a 10 percent increase in sales, plus a replicable approach and a trained retail team. [more]

Strategy to develop appliance manufacturing in China
This consumer appliance manufacturer gained capacity in China, while saving operating and raw material costs, plus avoiding risks associated with regulatory bureaucracy, and ensuring environmental and worker welfare standards. [more]

Store process improvements for North America specialty retailer
A specialty retailer implemented several store productivity improvements across operational processes, customer service functions, and back-office processes to free up significant person-hours, resulting in improved worker satisfaction, customer experience, and ongoing savings. [more]

New CPG portfolio strategy for commercial and supply chain complexity
A global consumer packaged goods (CPG) manufacturer developed an innovative portfolio-optimization strategy and approach and anticipates more than 200% incremental profit. [more]

Direct-import strategy for a large mass merchandiser
Through a comprehensive direct-import strategy, a mass merchandiser prioritized more than 1,000 sub-categories for direct-import conversion and projected savings of $200 million. [more]