Retail Insider event with Manju Malhotra, co-COO of Harvey Nichols

Manju Malhotra, co-COO of Harvey Nichols.

Retail Insider held its latest event with guest speaker Manju Malhotra, co-COO of Harvey Nichols, who discussed the plans and thinking at the renowned department store ahead of a wine tasting.

Attendees of the event that was set within Harvey Nichols‘ flagship Knightsbridge store included senior executives from Marks & Spencer, Secret Sales, Fortnum & Mason, Farfetch and Selfridges who heard how the company is investing in both its store infrastructure and online proposition.

Manju detailed how there had been extensive refurbishments of the Knightsbridge store in particular – including a strong focus on services and its food and beverage offer – along with the continued building-out of its online business that is now the equivalent of its second largest store in terms of sales.

The stage is set…

Harvey Nichols has an unusual structure with two heads of the business – Manju and Daniela Rinaldi – but it works well as the responsibilities are split according to their skill-sets and expertise. 

Manju talked through how she rose through the business’s finance function before taking the co-COO role two years ago. Over recent years she had taken on responsibility for areas including supply chain and logistics and more recently IT, e-commerce and apps. 

As she oversees the transformation of its technology infrastructure – including removal of its legacy systems – Manju says Harvey Nichols has been fortunate in having historically had a single view of its stock and today this is proving beneficial as its customers increasingly shop across channels.

Sampling wines among the fashion lines.

The evening concluded with a wine tasting of eight own label Harvey Nichols wines – that showcased its offer – with accompanying canapes.

Retail Insider would like to thank Manju for providing some great insights on the night as well as the event’s much valued supporters Womble Bond Dickinson, Alliants, K3 and HI Executive Consulting.

Glynn Davis, editor of Retail Insider