The Strategy Behind Williams-Sonoma's Global Expansion

• Cross-dock: Williams-Sonoma struggled with maintaining accurate inventory tracking. For example, products were being sold in-store that weren't entered into the inventory system, leading to negative inventory counts.
• Product assortment: Bogan conceded that Williams-Sonoma didn't do enough market analysis to determine the best products to sell in the U.K. and Australia. He cited an example of poor sales for backpacks in Australia. What the retailer didn't know was that children in Australia are provided free backpacks.
• New peak seasons: Boxing Day wasn't on the radar of Williams-Sonoma when it was just selling domestically, Bogan said. That changed when the retailer opened stores and a website in the U.K.

Other lessons learned included a lack of brand awareness, working with new vendors, working with new builders for its brick-and-mortar stores, finding third-party providers for fulfillment, and differences in product testing standards. Every market has it nuances, Bogan said.