Next UK is a British multinational retailer that deals in clothing and footwear for men, women, kids, and newborn babies. More it also sells beauty products, and home products such as furniture, furnishings, and accessories of all leading brands. With its headquarter in Leicestershire, the retail chain has 750 stores, of which 200 are spread across Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. The remaining 550 stores are in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Today, Next Co UK is a multinational retailer with origins dating back more than one 150 years. What started as a tailoring business in 1864 by Joseph Hepworth and Son in Leeds gradually transformed into a one-stop shop for everything needed to support a modern lifestyle, from fashion to beauty and home products.
Next UK –the Guiding Principles
The retailer remains committed to offering beautifully designed and responsibly sourced clothing, fashion, homeware, and beauty products of excellent quality at affordable price ranges to build shareholder value through sustainable and long-term growth. The company has spent years honing the skills and building the infrastructure necessary for staying true to its commitment toward consumers with a strong financial discipline and excellent operations that can delight customers. The company has successfully earned the trust of its customers, partners, and suppliers by building strong bonds over the years based on a transparent and flawless business model.
The company’s infrastructure
Besides selling hundreds of third-party brands, Next Co UK also sells its products under the NEXT brand name. It draws strength from the integration of assets such as systems, warehouses, delivery networks, websites, marketing, stores, and credit facilities.
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Warehousing and Distribution
The Company has 9 warehouses and 7 depots in the UK, fully integrated with highly cost-efficient distribution facilities. The distribution network serves online customers and retail stores for all brands the company markets. NEXT’s distribution network also facilitates the induction of all products held in third-party warehouses and delivers them to customers.
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Store Network
All the 500 stores across the UK and more than 200 stores (franchise) in 33 countries play a pivotal role in supporting online customers, as almost 50% of beauty products in the UK entail store delivery. The majority of returns, too, happen through the stores. NEXT caters to 7 million online customers in the UK, and 1.6 million overseas customers shop online.
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Digital Marketing Systems
The Company has strong digital marketing systems to support customers who prefer shopping online. The systems can handle an enormous amount of data and incorporate web-based marketing tools and sophisticated search facilities to create a closely-knit marketing network by integrating social marketing systems and the company’s e-mail.
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Supply Chain
With support from the company’s overseas sourcing operation NEXT Sourcing Limited (NSL), there is a well-established supply chain. Besides buying and sourcing, NSL provides design skills to support the UK-based product team.
Next UK has a similar but smaller setup in Portugal for overseeing sourcing in North Africa and Europe. It has call centers for comprehensive customer support to create an outstanding customer experience.
