Overview
Reserved is a Polish fashion retailer who forms part of the wider LPP Group, which also includes brands Sinsay, Cropp, House and Mohito.
Turnover for the group reached PLN 17.4bn (£3.33bn) in the year to end-January 2024 (FY2023). It is targeting revenue growth of 20% into 2024, aiming to generate double-digit online growth and positive comparable sales in its stores.
Reserved has over 350 stores globally, located in 27 countries, predominantly in Europe, but also in Africa and Asia. It operates stores in the Middle East through a franchise partner.
Spanning womenswear, menswear and childrenswear, its ranges are targeted at customers “looking for quality and classics at a good price”.
Having opened its first UK store on London’s Oxford Street back in 2017, it moved into expansionist mode in 2023, upping its store numbers in and around the capital.
UK expansion ramping up
Launching with much aplomb in the UK market, Reserved opened its first store in the old BHS site on London’s Oxford Street back in 2017.
Although Brexit caused the retailer to put expansion plans in the region on hold, it is ramping up its store openings in the territory from 2023. It has since opened a second store on Oxford Street, with five UK stores in and around the capital by mid-2024.
Yet expansion outside the capital could potentially be on the cards, with LPP vice-president Przemysław Lutkiewicz telling Retail Week: “We are also very curious about the other regions of the UK. Manchester, Liverpool and Leeds are the destinations we are looking at, at the moment, but also we are thinking about even smaller cities.
“From our own research, it looks like it would be better for us to look for new locations in the smaller cities. We would rather see the new locations coming into cities with 100,000 to 300,000 citizens, where the competition is much lower and maybe sometimes there are Polish or Eastern European communities living there, in smaller shopping malls.”
Reserved’s UK stores are light and bright, averaging over 20,000 sq ft and giving customers plenty of choice.
Parent LPP say it assumes “a holistic approach” to both sales channels (stores and online) making “all products available to our customers regardless of the sales channel”.
Technology
LPP group sees itself as both a fashion retailer and a technology company.
It has developed IT solutions tailored to its needs, stating its implements “modern technologies, the so-called Fashion Tech, throughout the entire value chain, from product to logistics and sales”.
It has its own analytical facilities, which allow it “to understand mega trends and customer expectations”, adapting quickly to changes to meet the needs of its customers.
Its focus on modernising its technology includes:
- Continuous refinement of collections according to its customers’ expectations
- Expanding its range of sales and after-sales services in line with global retail trends
- Improving the flexibility of its distribution network
- Full integration of the traditional and online channels “reflecting the omnichannel strategy”
In 2020, parent LPP entered a strategic partnership with Google, telling press: “We have ambitious plans for the coming years, which is why we decided to tie up with an experienced partner who will provide us with their know-how, as well as infrastructure and tools for building and maintaining ecommerce websites.”
The retailer is harnessing Google Cloud both in its analytics capabilities and ecommerce infrastructure. It has also deployed advanced virtual chat agents across its communication channels including its website, social media accounts and other digital properties across multiple countries.
LPP has partnered with Checkpoint for a number of years, first adopting its Electronic Article Surveillance (EAS) technology, then rolling out its RFID technology to reduce stock management time and improve availability.
It has previously worked with Accenture and Retek to implement its merchandising, forecasting and planning systems.
Sustainability strategy
LPP says its sustainability strategy is “founded on responsible fashion” - encompassing its entire value chain as well as end of garment life.
In 2019, it announced the second LPP Sustainable Development Strategy ‘For People For Our Planet’ 2020 - 2025, based on four pillars:
- Design and production
- Elimination of plastics
- Chemical safety
- Infrastructure and buildings
Its decarbonisation targets were approved by the international Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) in 2023.
Within the UK, Reserved works with Yellow Octopus Group to manage its fashion recycling scheme.
Ecommerce rising in importance
The ecommerce channel has been a substantial area of growth for Reserved, rising from nearly 9% of total sales in 2017 to just under 25% in the year to end-January 2024 (FY2023).
Online share of sales has fluctuated more in the UK market, having risen to 69% in FY2020 as the pandemic shuttered its store, and since falling to just 12.6% in the year to end January 2023 (FY2022).
In July 2023, LPP added the option of interest- free instalments through Klarna on its Reserved, Cropp, House, Mohito and Sinsay online stores.
Supply chain and distribution network
LPP has offices in Gdańsk, Warsaw and Cracow in Poland as well as Shanghai in China, Dhaka in India and Barcelona, Spain.
Its Barcelona design office “seeks to identify customer tastes in Western markets”, while both its Shanghai and Indian office support production and working conditions among its supply bases.
About 92% of its collections are produced through third-party suppliers in Asia, mainly Bangladesh (32%), China (29%), Myanmar (18%), Pakistan (5%), India (4%) and Cambodia (2%). Orders from Turkey account for 7% of the collection. It says the value of goods purchased from any single supplier does not exceed 5% of total purchases.
LPP Logistics launched in 2022 and is the logistics operator managing the LPP Group’s supply and distribution network of distribution centres and fulfilment centres.
As of end-January 2024, LPP Logistics managed eight warehouse facilities, including four distribution centres (in Pruszcz Gdański, Gdansk, Brześć Kujawski and near Bucharest) and four fulfilment centres (two in Poland - in Pruszcz Gdański and in Podkarpacie, and two abroad - near Bucharest and Bratislava).
