Affordable luxury brand Michael Kors has set up its ecommerce site in Canada. The site mirrors the American website, MichaelKors.com, which was relaunched in September 2014. It features an enhanced user interface, large lifestyle images and a wealth of editorial content. The site is optimized for mobile as well.
Aside from shopping by category, shoppers can peruse the brand’s digital shoppable magazine Destination Kors, which includes “Michael’s Must-Haves,” celebrity looks, a travel section and seasonal collections.
For the most part, luxury brands have been slow to embrace the digital world, preferring to stick to the exclusivity of the in-store experience. But Michael Kors has been out in front in digital and social.
“They’ve constantly been recognized as an innovator and an early adopter,” said David Altman, CEO of New York-based MarketShare Advisors International, a consultancy for luxury and omni-channel retailers.
And the brand’s new ecommerce site is no exception. “I think they do a very good job of combining content, commerce and community on the site, which are the ‘three Cs’ you need to address in an online experience,” said Altman. “They do a great job of brand storytelling.”
The problem for Michael Kors, according to some analysts, is its ubiquity, which is the “kiss of death” for trendy fashion brands, wrote Robin Lewis of The Robin Report.
Michael Kors has been aggressively opening new stores in recent years and expanding its distribution. “Even worse,” wrote Lewis, “a rocket-propelled accelerant to ubiquity is its expansion into multiple product categories and sub-brands, so they can compete at all price points.”
Death by discount is what happened to Coach, which may be fueling concerns about Michael Kors. When everyone and their mother could buy a Coach purse at a discount outlet, the brand lost its cache and sales took a dive. The company is in the midst of a turnaround plan.
“[Coach] became more and more reliant on their outlet business and it killed the brand,” said Altman. “It became less aspirational. The customer that you want becomes less interested in the goods that you’re offering.”
Sales have slowed at Michael Kors, but the company is still performing well. It reported revenue of US$1.3 billion in third quarter of fiscal 2015. Company-wide comparable store sales increased 8.6% during the quarter, down from 16.4% growth in the second quarter. The company said ecommerce sales increased 73% in the third quarter, exceeding expectations.
“I think the continued growth of Michael Kors is not necessarily going to be their online experience, but how they balance the ubiquitous nature of their business today with future growth,” said Altman.
