People
Brian Schneider
Partner & Managing Director
London
In this second episode of the 2026 World Retail Podcast series on Unlocking volume growth, Ian McGarrigle, Chair of World Retail Congress, is joined by Jaume Miquel Naudí, Chairman and CEO of Tendam, and Brian Schneider, Partner & Managing Director at AlixPartners, for a wide-ranging conversation on building an omnichannel ecosystem for long-term growth.
Listen to the episode on Spotify or Apple, or read the transcript below.
Ian McGarrigle:
Hello, and welcome to the World Retail Podcast.
This episode takes a deep dive into what we’re calling a fashion strategic growth reset. To help us understand what is happening across fashion retail, there could be few better guests than Jaume Miquel Naudí, Chairman and CEO of Tendam, the Spanish multi-brand fashion group that operates in more than 80 countries.
Jaume has been CEO since 2016 and Chairman since 2019, and has been responsible for a highly impressive transformation of the group and its business model.
I’m also joined by Brian Schneider, Partner & Managing Director at AlixPartners. Brian leads the EMEA retail fashion practice at AlixPartners. Brian, I wondered if you could start us off with a quick overview of what you see as the main issues facing retailers in the fashion retail sector as they look to find growth.
Brian Schneider:
Great to be here, and happy to. There are three critical things going on in fashion.
The first is that we have a cautious consumer. As most people know, the economy has not been great. Costs for the average person have risen in areas like food, energy, and housing. What that really means is that discretionary purchases have fallen sharply, which really impacts the fashion industry.
The second is that fashion retailers are facing significant cost headwinds. The market overall is growing at around 2–3% year on year, but many cost items such as store labor, raw materials, and energy are rising at 15–20%. That creates a very tough dynamic for fashion retailers trying to grow profitably.
The third is that we have new competition at lower price points. Because of the cautious consumer, shoppers are often trading down. Mid-market and luxury are under pressure as a result, and we’ve also seen a resurgence in secondhand and off-price.
When you look at companies like Temu, Shein, and Vinted, they’ve really taken off. In certain countries, they’re leading fashion retailers. We also have discounters like Lefties continuing to take share. They grew 17% last year.
So overall, the challenge is really about driving like-for-like growth, especially in the mid-market. To do that, retailers need to be very distinct and targeted in their offering, which is why I’m really excited to talk to Jaume about Tendam, because they’ve done quite well in this segment.
Ian McGarrigle:
Thanks, Brian. That’s a great setup.
Jaume, welcome, and thank you for joining us today.
Jaume Miquel Naudí:
Thank you very much, Ian and Brian. It’s a pleasure.
Ian McGarrigle:
Jaume, I thought it would be useful for our listeners if you could give a quick introduction to Tendam.
A number of people will know the business, but there may be some who don’t. It’s been a really interesting journey for the group, so I’d love for you to start us off with a brief introduction.
Jaume Miquel Naudí:
Of course.
Tendam is the evolution of the former Grupo Cortefiel. Grupo Cortefiel was a traditional vertical retailer operating in the market mainly through four core brands: Cortefiel, Pedro del Hierro, Springfield, Women’secret, and Fifty, which is the outlet division.
But Tendam is a different animal. It is a true omnichannel ecosystem.
It is omnichannel from a logistical perspective, but also from a sales perspective. Nearly 30% of digital sales are originated in physical stores, which is quite high compared with other players.
We use the word “ecosystem” very deliberately. It is an ecosystem of brands, with five legacy brands and seven new brands that we have launched in the last five years. It is also an ecosystem of third-party brands. We have more than 200 third-party brands complementing our own portfolio.
And it is also an ecosystem of customers because at the core of our strategy are 25 million unique individuals associated with our loyalty clubs, and they represent 75% of sales.
We operate in the market on a platform-based model where, apart from brand management, the rest is basically servicing the whole group. This provides efficiencies in terms of quality of operation and efficiencies in terms of cost.
So that is Tendam. We are present in more than 80 markets. The business is around €1.5 billion, and we are growing and winning market share in the key markets where we operate.
Ian McGarrigle:
Thank you, Jaume. That gives us a lot to discuss.
Brian, do you want to kick us off with your first question?
Brian Schneider:
Sure.
As I mentioned, the fashion landscape is changing rapidly. We have a much more selective consumer, pressure on price and value, and a hollowing out of the middle in fashion, especially at mid-price points.
To combat rising costs and consumer expectations, retailers often need to make bold moves to drive growth. What bold moves has Tendam taken recently, and what are you thinking about next?
Jaume Miquel Naudí:
Clearly, growth is the number one mission for everyone, and growth not only in sales, but also in profitability. Healthy growth is the most important thing.
During COVID, we reflected a lot on the industry, and we reflected a lot on the megatrends that were already there. One was clearly digitalization, which was everywhere and influencing all areas.
Another was sustainability, which also came with a more responsible way of consuming. That means not only a willingness to buy products that are more organic or more consciously made, but also buying less and buying better, which clearly has an effect on volume, sales, and growth.
That is part of our business model. Why? Because in the last five years we launched seven new brands, all of them complementary and covering specific niches. Obviously, those brands should have a path to becoming a baby, a kid, a teenager, and then an adult. That path creates growth.
I do not believe all the kids will be super successful. It would be the first time in my life that seven bets all become seven successes. But if out of the seven there are four winning horses, that obviously provides clear growth. Today, apparently all are in good health, and all of them could become racing horses, so let’s see.
The second element is third-party brands. This is a business we did not have before COVID. During COVID we started with 13 third-party brands. Today we have more than 200, the aim is to get close to 400.
We are not using drop shipping. We are using traditional wholesale under a very curated assortment. It is curated for two reasons. First, because we do not want to be a marketplace where you find everything and get lost. We want to provide an assortment that is dedicated to our type of customer, and we know our customer well because they have been associated with our loyalty clubs for a long time.
We know their profile, their mindset, the type of fashion and style they want, and the type of product they want. So we want to provide an additional quality benefit versus a traditional marketplace. Complementarity of choice is good, and it also minimizes the risk of cannibalization, which is important.
A third level of growth comes from international expansion, which is part of our blueprint. Another is selectively converting some of the franchise business into company-operated business, which will increase capillarity and reach.
The fourth axis is M&A, where we are actively looking for opportunities in Spain and outside Spain.
All of this combined should allow us to deliver a level of growth in the coming years of between 8–12%.
Brian Schneider:
I find the fact that you’re not using drop shipping and instead using traditional wholesale fascinating. Not many companies would take that route. Obviously it increases risk, but it could also increase sales and profit.
Jaume Miquel Naudí:
Yes.
This has been a long discussion: drop shipping or pre-booking.
Drop shipping has a big advantage. You do not have any buying commitment, so from a working capital perspective it is much better. On the other side, you can increase your assortment, so in theory you can sell more. That is the beauty of it.
The problem comes when a customer calls the call center because of a delivery problem, a credit card payment issue, or something similar, and then you do not have an answer because it relates to the operator of the drop-shipping brand.
When we studied our NPS, particularly the NPS among loyalty club members, it was above 60%, so apparently they are satisfied.
And we saw that there were two types of friction that had a very big impact, either positive or negative, on NPS.
One was product quality. We have a return rate of around 24%, which is quite low compared with the industry, so we thought we did not apparently have an issue related to product quality.
The second was friction in delivery or payment. Honestly, we did not want to put our NPS at risk because NPS among loyalty club members is key. As I said before, they represent 75% of sales.
To get 1% or 2% more sales while putting the core engine at risk was not a risk we wanted to take.
Ian McGarrigle:
Jaume, it’s interesting that you’ve touched on where you see growth coming from, through third-party brands and international expansion.
But I’d also love to ask you about the fact that last year the company entered a new phase in its development with a new ownership era following the acquisition by Multiply Group.
I’m fascinated to know what difference that has made. Is there a new focus, and how is it going to help drive the existing growth strategies you already had?
Jaume Miquel Naudí:
Before that event, probably 70% of my time was related to corporate matters. We explored the public markets through a potential IPO. Looking back, and seeing how we ended up with our shareholder structure, I think it was the most successful non-IPO in history, because we ended with a much better shareholder structure than we would have had through an IPO, with less complexity, more freedom, and more capacity to move faster in the market.
In the past, probably over the last three years, I was spending 70% of my time on corporate-related issues and 30% on company-related ones. Right now, I am spending 80% of my time on the business and 20% on shareholder or board management.
Now I have to prove that I am helping the company, because we were very successful when I was only partially focused on it. So now I need to demonstrate that I am adding value. That is the first thing: focus. It gives me much more focus on the business.
The second thing is that they have a long-term view of the asset. They define sectors they consider to have long-term growth potential, either through organic growth, consolidation, or both.
Then they make a first investment in a company they consider to be an anchor company within the sector, and from there they build an ecosystem of brands within that sector. We are the anchor company in our part of the market.
So the second major change is that they have a long-term view of value creation, and that is important.
The third is that we have a clear alignment on the growth levers and on the areas we need to attack alongside the business plan, which provides clarity and speed in execution.
There is also another element that is probably different from the Western world, and that is part of the nature of Abu Dhabi: they think big. They think big, and they do not have fear. That is important because it is a different type of shareholder attitude toward an asset.
Of course, there is another element that is universal: you have to deliver. That is important. Generating trust is easy at the beginning. What matters is how you handle your rights, your duties, and your delivery. Delivery is important because that is what generates trust.
But overall, it has been a big change for the company.
Ian McGarrigle:
With their backing, are you able to move faster than you would have before their ownership?
Jaume Miquel Naudí:
Absolutely.
Ian McGarrigle:
And an acquisition, presumably, is something you would not necessarily have looked at before either.
Jaume Miquel Naudí:
Well, I would say that on the agenda for 2026, there is a clear focus on international expansion within the core brands.
There is also a clear expansion plan for the new brands we have launched. Before 2026, basically all the new brands did not have a standalone presence. They were associated in a shop-in-shop format within existing stores.
Right now, three out of the seven new brands will start to have their own standalone network. That is important. They will start initially in Spain and Portugal and then expand globally. This will already happen in 2026.
And yes, we are actively looking in the market for companies that could be of interest.
We are not looking for distressed companies. We are looking for good companies that are complementary and within our field, meaning between premium mass market and affordable luxury. That is the area we feel is close to our core.
We are not looking at low-cost or fast fashion because that is not part of our expertise. We are not looking at luxury either because that is also not part of our expertise.
But between premium mass market and affordable luxury, that is the area we are looking at, especially in markets that are growing above average and in companies where we can offer complementarity, either through know-how in certain areas or through market presence, and where that could help accelerate growth for both sides.
Brian Schneider:
I know there are a lot of brands out there that would love to be part of the Tendam group.
The theme so far is really this idea of thinking big without fear, and it comes through in everything you’ve described.
Let’s talk about your brands. You have an ecosystem of 12 brands, largely in the mid-market, and we know this is the area with the most competition in fashion. Where are you seeing success, and why do you think that is?
Jaume Miquel Naudí:
I think the first thing is that while everyone looks at competition, and competition is looking at us, I am forcing the teams not to look too much at competitors.
I think part of the problem in fashion has been that brands have looked too much at each other, and then the consumer ends up thinking: who is who, and where is the personality?
We want to be loyal to timeless elegance, to fashion that lasts. We do not pretend to be the most fashionable brand in town. We want to give people the self-confidence to dress right for each occasion, with a product that has lasting quality and a fit they can trust.
We believe that the target group above 35 or 40 is interesting. This means we only have one brand in intimates that is really addressing Gen Z.
We are more comfortable with a more mature consumer. We believe that these customers are more loyal to brands and have greater spending power than Gen Z and younger customers, who tend to be less loyal and have less money.
We also believe the market has perhaps put too much focus on younger audiences. Those younger audiences will become mature one day, and we will be there.
The important thing is to be mature, but not old. That is a different thing.
We need to address the specific fit and body needs of a person who is above 40. At the same time, we need to provide excitement, engagement, a sense of fashion, and brand energy.
Cortefiel and Pedro del Hierro address a target group more in the 45-plus or 50-plus range, with Pedro del Hierro acting as a bridge to affordable luxury, with a clear price advantage versus brands that sit in the segment above.
Springfield is a very good example of a casual brand that works very well with customers between 30 and 45, or 25 and 45, offering good quality, good fit, a casual feel, and a very versatile wardrobe.
Women’secret is about specialist expertise for women. Even when there was a major trend in women’s intimates around entering the sports niche, we decided not to go there. We decided instead to remain loyal to the core of our category, which was women’s intimates, and that has been able to drive very important growth.
So all the core brands have a clear mission: to engage new customers, specifically customers who are one step below in age, but not to go too far down. That can be the role of the other niche brands we own.
From there, the goal is to continue growing.
Brian Schneider:
So it sounds like rather than competing head-on with Zara, Mango, Lefties, Shein, or Temu, you choose to differentiate instead and target a different customer segment. Is that how you’re achieving the results you’ve seen?
Jaume Miquel Naudí:
Yes.
And you know, the best way to compete successfully with a competitor is by not competing with that competitor.
That is what we are trying to do.
Brian Schneider:
I love that.
Ian McGarrigle:
Jaume, you’ve touched on stores and the importance of stores. You also spoke at last year’s World Retail Congress on a panel about the importance of the store.
I’d love to get your thoughts on how, in this kind of tough, cost-conscious retail environment, brick-and-mortar stores continue to add value.
Jaume Miquel Naudí:
Here I would say that every company has to choose its own model, and all of them are respectable.
I know some of the big players are more focused on major cities, super-prime locations, and large flagships. Honestly, that is completely respectable, and I can understand it. If you have a very low average selling price and a gross margin below 60%, then you are probably forced to go to locations with extremely high traffic.
Our model is different.
We have a higher average selling price, and our gross margin is above 60%. Having an average selling price above fast fashion also means that you are not for everybody. Not all the customers on Regent Street, Preciados, or Oxford Street are for us.
So the question becomes: what is the role of brick-and-mortar?
For us, the role of the store is to be close to the customer. Capillarity is important because it serves the function of convenience from a pure shopping perspective. It creates differentiation from competition, especially in tier-two cities when others decide not to stay and we remain.
At the same time, the store is a clear sales and logistics hub integrated into the digital business.
I think it is difficult for a store to survive successfully if it is not fully integrated with digital, unless it becomes a destination because it offers a highly specific product or service with very high value.
In our case, nearly one-third of digital sales are taking place in physical stores. A customer may come in because of a missed style or a missed size, but then they can buy from the rest of the portfolio and the rest of the ecosystem, including third-party brands.
Obviously, that drives conversion, but it also represents around 7% of store sales, which is not a minor contribution in terms of profitability.
On the logistics side, around 53% of digital deliveries, even when we offer free home delivery, are still collected in store because the customer prefers to go to the store. And more than 80% of physical returns from digital purchases are also brought back to the store.
That creates a logistics cost structure with a very low impact on the digital P&L.
So on one side, you have a positive sales impact within the P&L of the physical stores. On the other side, you have a major benefit in terms of lower logistics costs on the digital P&L, because the store is effectively acting as a storage and logistics hub for the digital business.
At the same time, because of the loyalty clubs, we have a very low customer acquisition cost, which also benefits the digital business.
So each channel benefits the other.
Brian Schneider:
That’s great.
We all know one of the reasons many online pure plays fail is because of logistics and returns costs, so it makes a lot of sense to manage that through the store network.
You mentioned your loyalty program, and you also mentioned NPS and customer satisfaction. Is loyalty a big part of how you drive repeat visits and brand affinity? Talk to me a bit more about loyalty.
Jaume Miquel Naudí:
I remember that 15 years ago in the company, we had long discussions about the cost of the loyalty clubs and whether they were worth it.
The reality is that after COVID, it became fully clear that this was an asset that had to be used differently. We started investing deeply in data analytics and in the way we managed the clubs, in parallel with the omnichannel upgrade across the network and warehouses.
To put it simply, if we acquire 100 new loyalty club customers in one year, we may lose 60%, but the remaining 40% stay with us almost forever.
That is one important point, and it provides resilience, especially in like-for-like growth.
The second point is the customer journey. An average loyalty club member spends around €30 per year with us. That is typically someone who buys during sale periods, mid-season sales, or Black Friday, so clearly not at full price.
When he or she becomes a member of only one club, and buys through only one channel, either digital or physical, consumption goes up to €50.
If we are able to get that individual to become multichannel or multi-club, then consumption goes up to €100.
If the customer becomes fully omnichannel and fully multi-club, consumption goes to about €150.
And if we shift consumption from a traditional website to the app, it goes close to €200.
So it is a nearly fully automated machine, and today we are applying GenAI to it. The goal is to move loyalty club members from lower levels of engagement within the ecosystem to higher levels of engagement.
That is valuable because the customers with higher engagement spend more, are more satisfied, and have higher NPS.
At the same time, it helps protect one of the hardest things in retail, which is like-for-like growth.
We believe this engine protects between 1.5% and 2.5% of like-for-like growth year on year, which is a very good base.
Ian McGarrigle:
Jaume, I’ve got to build on that and ask you about the importance of customer data.
But before that, I’m also curious about the split between online and offline. Do you think things are now starting to stabilize and this is the pattern that will stay with us, or do you still see online growing from here?
Jaume Miquel Naudí:
I think that when we look at markets that are more advanced in online sales, they tend to be in the 40% to 45% range, but at that point they are more stable.
In Southern European markets, penetration may vary between 12% and 20%, but I do believe it will go up. I am sure we will go to a level of 30% to 35%, though probably not 45%.
Why? I think weather helps the physical shopping mix. Buying as a social activity is also something that supports physical stores.
But what I see is that the level of online penetration should not be looked at in isolation, because physical stores are part of digital sales.
What we clearly see as a trend, and something that is here to stay, is the combination of physical and digital. The players who are best at that combination will create a clear competitive advantage.
The two cannot be seen in silos, neither from a sales perspective nor from a logistics efficiency perspective.
So the future is omnichannel, but truly omnichannel, not partially.
Ian McGarrigle:
Fascinating.
Turning to customer data, every retailer is almost awash with data, and AI is now helping with that. What can you say about the role customer data plays within Tendam, and how it is powering growth?
Jaume Miquel Naudí:
Customer data is key, and probably we are a bit obsessive about data. We need to measure everything.
I remember when we launched the third-party business, the board was asking hard questions because there was a clear concern about cannibalizing our own brands with lower margins.
My answer was that there is one big advantage in having a long history of customer behavior data: we can measure things.
We can measure when a customer has been buying a third-party brand from a store or from a digital channel, and then compare that with the behavior of this customer in relation to our core brands before we launched the third-party business.
The reality is that today we have not experienced cannibalization. We have only seen incremental expenditure. And even if at a certain point we had seen minor cannibalization, the gross contribution would still have provided a clear payback.
But to do that, you need to measure it, and to measure it you need a clear history of consumer behavior.
To optimize the database, you cannot rely only on traditional segmentation like platinum, gold, silver, and bronze customers. You need to understand buying patterns in a way that is not intrusive.
You also need to create events or triggers that can drive a possible purchase in one direction or another. So it is really about making your use of the database much more sophisticated.
At the same time, you must avoid crossing the line where the customer starts to feel uncomfortable.
Personalization is good. Identifying patterns is good. But you must avoid making the customer feel like there is a spy on their shoulder, because that will clearly create a negative reaction.
Brian Schneider:
You mentioned earlier that you also use GenAI in this area, and we know this is one of the spaces where AI is really making progress in retail.
Can you talk a bit more about how you use GenAI here, and more broadly, how you decide where to use AI and where not to?
Jaume Miquel Naudí:
Yes.
First, AI is here to stay, and it is here to dominate, because at the end of the day it is a major evolution of digital information. So there is no discussion about that.
The real question is timing and level of investment.
Today, AI is a bit like when you are in a pub and someone serves you a beer. You have to look at the foam on top and work out how much will stay and how much will disappear.
Our view is that we have a roadmap for engaging with AI. Some use cases are already more industrialized, particularly in back-office operations or warehousing. Those things are already there.
But there are still many areas that are in a very early stage, even at the level of proof of concept.
The question is how much and where you want to invest.
In our case, we are very clear that the areas where we want to be more advanced are everything related to CRM, because that is part of our core, and that is probably the element that most differentiates us from the competition.
So we want to invest and be more advanced in the areas that could clearly provide competitive advantage.
In the rest, we will probably be more of a follower.
But the areas where we want to invest are the ones that make us unique and different.
Brian Schneider:
As the mindset shifted after Multiply, has it helped to have that financial backing and that approach of thinking big without fear when it comes to funding some of those investments?
Jaume Miquel Naudí:
Yes, totally. It is a change of mindset.
I think Abu Dhabi has AI as a top priority for the next 5–10 years in terms of investment and embracing technology.
They have agreements with most of the major AI companies globally, clearly the top ones. I would say it is on the agenda as the number one point, alongside M&A, in every board meeting.
So yes, it is a clear top priority, because they have a long-term view of the asset. It is not about the next quarter or about making the company look more attractive in the short term. It is about long-term value creation and delivery.
Ian McGarrigle:
Jaume, I think we’re unfortunately running out of time, because this has been an absolutely fascinating conversation.
But my last question is this: as you know, this year’s World Retail Congress theme is Retail’s Roadmap to 2030. So looking ahead to 2030, what do you see as the opportunities over the next four to five years for the premium and mid-market fashion retail sector around the world?
Jaume Miquel Naudí:
I think the big growth opportunity for the next five years in our sector is to move from a pure fashion mindset to more of a business model mindset.
What I mean is that if you are doing €100 million or €200 million in revenue in one brand, or even €600 million, and you think you will beat the competition simply because your design is smarter, that is an illusion.
All designers are good, and everyone is also improving.
What will make the difference is identifying the business model that makes you different and allows you to grow in a crowded space.
That is one element.
The second is consolidation.
I think we have too many players in the market. The market needs scale to compete successfully.
There are many companies that, over the last five, seven, or eight years, have been candidates for transactions, especially private-equity-backed businesses, but nothing has moved. At some point, those companies will need to change the status quo.
So I believe the winners will be the ones that can create or identify business models that are not simply replications of what others are doing.
The second differentiator will be scale. Scale is very important if you want to compete successfully, drive synergies, and find opportunities.
I think that is probably the number one challenge for companies over the next five years.
And of course, AI will also become a key factor in separating winners from losers. It may not be fully visible in 2026, but by 2030, if a player starts with a small gap in 2026, that gap will become bigger over the next five years, and that could become a clear differentiator.
Just as today, in 2026, a player that is not fully digital or fully omnichannel is clearly competing with lower capability, over the next five years the same will happen with AI.
So AI, business model innovation, and consolidation of the sector—that is my view.
Ian McGarrigle:
Jaume, that is absolutely fascinating, and I love that summary.
Brian, I know you picked up on it a couple of times, but what Jaume said about thinking big and without fear is certainly going to stay with me as a key takeaway, along with the importance of having backers who think long term.
And to the point of this whole series—how do you unlock volume growth—you’ve really talked about that in real depth.
While there are plenty of challenges, your final answer also shows the very real opportunities for retailers, and fashion retailers in particular.
So I want to thank you very much, and Brian, thank you as well for joining me on this podcast.
Brian Schneider:
Thank you both.
Thank you, Jaume. Very insightful. There is a lot in there that gives us, and other retailers around the world, a great deal to think about. I really appreciate it.