Michael Kors Reports Phenomenal Third Quarter, Holiday Season

By Anna Rose Welch, Editorial & Community Director, Advancing RNA

Omni-channel initiatives help brand successfully target Millennial consumers

Luxury brand Michael Kors has seen some more unparalleled success during its third quarter — putting more pressure on other luxury retailers, such as Coach, which reported its lowest same-store increase in 13 years. Total revenue for Michael Kors during its third quarter once again overshot analyst expectations to impressive levels, increasing 59 percent and hitting $1 billion (analysts were expecting roughly $860 million). Same store sales also surged by 24 percent as consumers flocked to stores for the brand’s accessories and watch collections.

Chairman and CEO John Idol chalks up the brand’s holiday success to growing global awareness, which has created a huge surge in demand for Michael Kors products. Since 2012, the brand has had aspirations to take China by storm. As Businessweek reported back in the spring of 2012, Michael Kors planned to double its Greater China stores by the end of 2012, with the hopes that the brand would open more than 100 over the next three to five years. In addition, the company was eyeing 2014 as the year it would start a China website. However, some argue that the brand has seen such growth because of the fact that it is built around a celebrity designer. As Fierce Retail describes, brands following the same growth strategy, including Ralph Lauren, Tory Burch, and Kate Spade have also been seeing success as of late.

The brand has also done a good job of reaching out to the all-important Millennial Generation. For Michael Kors, this success relies on the fact that it has not been squeamish about developing an omni-channel shopping experience for its tech-savvy customers both in-store and online. According to EVINS, the brand revamped its space to celebrate the redesign of the Macy’s Herald Square flagship in mid-town Manhattan right before the 2012 holiday. In this space, the brand offered customers a high-touch environment that combined video footage, mobile connection, and a touchscreen Kors Concierge service for shoppers looking to browse and buy handbags. The Kors Concierge service enabled customers to view Michael Kors handbags, learn more about the color and price of each bag, text it to themselves, and/or order it via the Macy’s website through the concierge.

Retailers Should Provide An Integrated Shopping Experience

For this holiday season, the brand aimed to keep targeting Millennials and to bolster e-commerce through a fan-inspired holiday blog, Luxury Daily reports. This digital campaign, “What’s in you Kors,” combined DestinationKors.com, Instagram, and Twitter and allowed customers to buy certain holiday products featured in the imagery via a click-to-purchase option. It must’ve worked well for the brand, considering social media analyst Starcount named it the top fashion brand on social media for 2013. And yet another recent triumph for the brand: Google ranked it as the second most-searched-for-high-fashion brand of the year in its Zeitgeist 2013 report. Judging from these results, the company has been doing a good job keeping itself relevant and reaching out to its primary customer base across all channels.

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