Leading Crabtree & Evelyn Through Digital Transformation
Helping a leading retailer build their IT strategy and move their business online
It is difficult to think of a sector that has been through as much of a significant transformation over the past decade as retail. Revolutionised by market disrupters and changing consumer behaviour, we have come to realise that no brand, no matter how established, is safe in such a volatile sector.
Crabtree & Evelyn found themselves under substantial pressure from this shift, and in 2018 made the bold decision to restructure and digitally transform their business. Crabtree and Evelyn envisaged a future where the business became predominantly online, adjusting its target market accordingly and executing a major restructuring programme that would involve closing all but one of their retail outlets.
With aggressive timescales for this transformation, it was quickly evident that the scale of technology change could not be achieved solely by their existing IT team. They needed help: someone to lead them through the digital transformation, who had deep rooted experience of the digital world they wanted to join, and could also manage day to day operations as well as the programme of store closures.
Conosco’s contribution to our fundamental digital transformation has been invaluable. The Virtual CTO model worked perfectly, providing internal leadership and direction and the ability to inject the right skills, at the right time, to ensure the success of our digital transformation. The impact was visible on day one and continued at every stage of our journey. We simply could not have accomplished what we have without Conosco and our virtual CTO.
David L. Stern , CEO, Crabtree & Evelyn
