We help investors and consumer-facing businesses understand and navigate a highly dynamic landscape.

Consumer businesses are inherently exposed to the fast-changing and fickle nature of consumer buying behaviour. What was in vogue one year runs the risk of being obscure the next – it is therefore critical to create a product or service that achieves long-term sustainable differentiation; foster a flexible, adaptable environment and measure performance against optimal KPIs. CIL’s Consumer practice helps identify where a business is on that journey and supports management teams in achieving best-in-class status.

Our expertise We have extensive experience advising both management teams and investors in fast growing and leading consumer businesses. The sector is broad, but we specialize in the following key segments:

Consumer products: we work with businesses across the value chain, from private label manufacturers and suppliers to well-known branded goods. This covers multiple categories including food & beverage, pet food, toys & gifts, home & garden, beauty & personal care and outdoor & sporting goods.

Leisure and recreation: consumers are increasingly experience-led, while being value focused, creating exciting opportunities for novel experiences. We have experience in fast growing sub-segments such as low-cost gyms, competitive socialising and outdoor recreation.

Travel and tourism: we have deep sector knowledge covering both domestic and outbound travel. We have a particular expertise in holiday and caravan parks, while also regularly working with other domestic site and inventory owners (e.g. marinas, holiday cottages), outbound travel operators and holiday aggregators.

Retail: we support retail businesses cross-channel for both bricks-and-mortar and online-only players. The former is supported by an industry leading Advanced Analytics practice that can identify optimisation and roll-out opportunities for multi-site businesses. The latter is supported by a series of proprietary tools that help measure the effectiveness of online-only businesses in acquiring, converting and serving customers.

Hospitality: In an ever-changing sector we have experience with many multi-site concepts, covering full-service restaurants to wet-led propositions to fast casual chains. Our Advanced Analytics capabilities help to identify headroom and expansion targets that can be quantified with rigorous models that help identify potential growth locations.

 
Our expertise We have extensive experience advising both management teams and investors in fast growing and leading consumer businesses. The sector is broad, but we specialize in the following key segments:

Consumer products: we work with businesses across the value chain, from private label manufacturers and suppliers to well-known branded goods. This covers multiple categories including food & beverage, pet food, toys & gifts, home & garden, beauty & personal care and outdoor & sporting goods.

Leisure and recreation: consumers are increasingly experience-led, while being value focused, creating exciting opportunities for novel experiences. We have experience in fast growing sub-segments such as low-cost gyms, competitive socialising and outdoor recreation.

Travel and tourism: we have deep sector knowledge covering both domestic and outbound travel. We have a particular expertise in holiday and caravan parks, while also regularly working with other domestic site and inventory owners (e.g. marinas, holiday cottages), outbound travel operators and holiday aggregators.

Retail: we support retail businesses cross-channel for both bricks-and-mortar and online-only players. The former is supported by an industry leading Advanced Analytics practice that can identify optimisation and roll-out opportunities for multi-site businesses. The latter is supported by a series of proprietary tools that help measure the effectiveness of online-only businesses in acquiring, converting and serving customers.

Hospitality: In an ever-changing sector we have experience with many multi-site concepts, covering full-service restaurants to wet-led propositions to fast casual chains. Our Advanced Analytics capabilities help to identify headroom and expansion targets that can be quantified with rigorous models that help identify potential growth locations.

What we do Some of the ways we help organizations include:

Investment appraisal: helping investors determine which deals are worth pursuing and how to optimise the investment.

Feasibility studies: helping investors and operators test demand and potential success of expansion strategies and new product development.

Consumer insights and behaviours: knowing who you are serving is critical. We help our clients understand who their customer is, what their motivations are and how this should inform their strategy.

Location and roll-out strategy: We help multi-site retail, hospitality and leisure businesses develop their roll-out strategy and prioritise locations. Our approach is highly data-driven, combining data from local socio-demographics, business KPIs and competitors.

Market entry strategy: We support clients in the research, analysis and prioritisation of new markets. We help in both stress testing of current plans and the collaborative development of new strategies.

 
What we do Some of the ways we help organizations include:

Investment appraisal: helping investors determine which deals are worth pursuing and how to optimise the investment.

Feasibility studies: helping investors and operators test demand and potential success of expansion strategies and new product development.

Consumer insights and behaviours: knowing who you are serving is critical. We help our clients understand who their customer is, what their motivations are and how this should inform their strategy.

Location and roll-out strategy: We help multi-site retail, hospitality and leisure businesses develop their roll-out strategy and prioritise locations. Our approach is highly data-driven, combining data from local socio-demographics, business KPIs and competitors.

Market entry strategy: We support clients in the research, analysis and prioritisation of new markets. We help in both stress testing of current plans and the collaborative development of new strategies.

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