As it prepares to greet visitors at the TFWA World Exhibition in Cannes this week, German luxury brand MCM is celebrating another year of
double-digit growth in travel retail.
“Overall, our duty free business is doing well with
double-digit growth,” says Nicolas Roptin, Global Travel Retail Director, MCM
Worldwide. “Countries that are performing well for us are China, Thailand,
Singapore, Japan, Malaysia… they are all doing very well, and Canada is a
growing market.”
The brand sparked the fashion trend for backpacks when it
unveiled its best-selling studded canvas backpack several years ago, and this
hands-free style remains a favourite among the millennial age group, as well as
appealing to urbanites seeking a functional bag for their on-the-move
lifestyles.
Additionally, MCM’s top-selling products are small leather
goods, including its range of animal-themed bag charms, cross-body bags and
leather bags. Roptin is seeing “a very positive trend” and high demand for
cross-body bags – again offering a hands-free, practical solution for everyday
life.
Looking ahead, the company is set to launch more
ready-to-wear and shoes. “We’re developing more categories to cater to a whole
lifestyle,” explains Roptin.
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| MCM's new store in Shenzhen, China |
Seasonal travel exclusive products
During the TFWA World Exhibition, the Spring/Summer 18 collection will be unveiled. “Feedback [from travel retailers]
on the collection has already been great,” enthuses Roptin.
The collection will incorporate seasonal travel retail
exclusive products, such as backpacks and small leather goods, offering
different colors and prints from the domestic market.
Turning to the outlook, MCM is forecasting double-digit
growth for 2017, buoyed by its prominent presence in Asia. “We’re in all the
key airports across Asia, and we want to strengthen our position in the region.
We also want to grow our presence in targeted locations in Europe, the Middle
East and North America,” he says.
Recent travel retail store openings in Europe have taken
place at Frankfurt and Munich airports, and the company is working on projects
in France, the UK and the United Arab Emirates.
The new store hit-list for North America includes Los
Angeles, Toronto and Vancouver airports. A pop-up shop featuring MCM’s new
pop-up concept is set to begin trading in New York JFK Terminal 4 at the end of
September, and new store openings are in the pipeline for mainland Chinese
airports, including Shanghai, Wuhan and Beijing. MCM’s latest store opening in China
travel retail is located at Shenzhen Airport in the Terminal 3 Domestic
Departures area.
Millennials – or “Global Nomads” as MCM’s owner and Chief
Visionary Officer Sung-Joo Kim describes them – are important to the New School
Luxury brand, so it uses all the social media channels to target these
consumers, but Roptin notes that other age groups are also important. “In
travel retail we always adapt our range to the specific customer profile
traveling through a particular airport, and we analyze the traffic flows. In
Europe, for example, we see a mixture of nationalities as well as age. They have
different tastes, so we have to fine-tune the best assortment for each airport.”
*This article first appeared in Americas Duty Free Magazine's Lifestyle Issue, October 2017.
*This article first appeared in Americas Duty Free Magazine's Lifestyle Issue, October 2017.
