Choosing wisely

When we talk of partnering for success, it’s not simply a throwaway line but the basis of our entire approach. As true partners, our success is only possible with yours. So our advice will always be in your best interests to ensure the success of your uniform shop.

Of course, Wise Schools can offer to run a uniform shop on behalf of the school for a defined contracted return in keeping with an Outsourced model. The retail aspects to managing the school uniform supply are a solved problem with readily available POS and stock-tracking software and identifiable staffing levels and training requirements.

The question we ask, however, is:

If a school-run uniform shop can be easy and efficient, financially strong, and deliver value to the school community, why would a school not want to run its own shop?

Partnering with Wise Schools gives you the support that only a national school apparel supplier can provide, with the expertise, advice, manufacturing and supply systems, and stockholding service that make running a successful school uniform shop easy.

The flawed rationale provided by suppliers promoting the Outsourced model is that “uniform supply is not core curriculum for a school, so outsource it.” Wise Schools does not believe this argument accurately captures the school community’s interests, however. The school’s uniform is central to belonging, identity, and the school’s marketing and branding. The uniform shop can also be parents’ first substantive interaction with the school’s community and culture, influencing those first impressions, and can be a source of the family’s further engagement and interaction throughout the student’s school life.

The school uniform shop can be augmented with a range of other products and services and can be a valued source of profit and a centre of community engagement to build partnerships with parents and the local community. Queensland and NSW P&Cs are an admirable example of this model.

The school and its community are best positioned to represent what its students and their parents want and how to manage any trade-offs to optimally achieve the best outcome to serve those interests. The problem with an Outsourced model is that the school community and the outsourced company do not have interests that are aligned. After being handed the running of the uniform shop, the outsource company is incentivised to maximise its margin and profit. Inevitably this will mean pressures to increase prices, lessen the quality or lower service levels.

Wise Schools believes the best model to manage a school’s uniform is for a school and community-run uniform shop to partner for success with a national, trusted, reliable supplier with the expertise in apparel, supply chains, quality control and stock-holding to give the school community the outcomes it deserves.

Not sure if Wise Schools is right as your school uniform supplier? Consider these typical scenarios and classic mistakes schools make:

Case study 1: Too many SKUs, poor stock control, loss of quality control, too many suppliers, failure to invest in a supplier partnership.
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Case study 2: High stock carry, insecure delivery, minimum ordering values too high.
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Case study 3: If possible a uniform should be a mix of stock items and customised branded items.
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Case study 4: Choosing to outsource — why not find and fix the problems instead?
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