Mothercare looks like a shop from a past era these days. It hasn’t moved with the times...
I'd agree. They are an old school retailer who rested on their laurels. Back in the day they had a pretty captive audience and were the leaders in their field. They took advantage of it and tbvfh, gouged their customers.
I remember when mine were ickle. One of the most consumable items, baby wipes, were pretty much twice the price in Mothercare than elsewhere. Suffice to say, we shopped elsewhere too. I didn't mind the big items (pram, cot etc.) because they did offer a good range and you could go in an try the out but as already mentioned, they are one off purchases and with the rise of the internet, Mothercare just aren't competitive. Both my car seats got passed on too. Everything else I kinda thought they were just awful. lack of anything really special and lack of range due to having too much diversity. Toys were better from places like Toys R Us or Argos, consumables were cheaper in the supermarket, Next had a superb range or kids clothes, and baby food was also a great deal cheaper elsewhere.
Even when my friends have had kids, I have advised them to shop elsewhere and not really gone into Mothercare to buy them anything (gifts etc) either.
Another issue I had with them (for my second kid) Was that they didn't have a website you could purchase from. IIRC they had a website but you still had to go in store to purchase and then you had difficulties because not all stores had the same items. In the end, I just gave up going in there.
The high street MUST diversify and evolve.
The comment regarding Halfords is interesting. I only go in there for their washer fluid (the berry flavor) and the other week I went in for a replacement wiper. They do have their services and tyre places but again, I don't find them to be competitive. Do they have a internet competitor or lack of customers ?
*edit*
Reading the story a bit more it sounds like a lot of miss management. £500 mil in revenue but still a 36mil loss (UK) and a 28mil profit internationally. I know there is an issue with rents and rates but that is a rather large disparity.
Frank Ofonagoro, director at business advisory firm Quantum, said: "Mothercare has been struggling for a while with the now commonly understood factors that have been hitting legacy UK high street operators. An outdated business model has meant the company has been far too slow in migrating its operating model away from costly physical stores to a much leaner online model.
"Furthermore, Morthercare has been unable to find an effective response to the changing buying habits of the new breed of millennial parents.”
As everyone has already suggested.
Mothercare floated in 1972 and has been a mainstay of the British high street for many years. However its UK business has been unprofitable for more than a decade and failed to find any buyers.
Adapt or die :/