Interview
Travel retail a ‘crucial’ channel for Coccinelle
Coccinelle Chief Operating Officer Emanuele Mazziotta talks about the Italian leathergoods company’s debut shoe range, the harmonisation of the brand’s domestic and travel retail operations, and its customer-centric approach to doing business in the post-COVID age.
“Travel retail for Coccinelle has always been a key strategic department and is an integral part of our brand’s global strategy,” says Coccinelle Chief Operating Officer Emanuele Mazziotta at the brand’s busy stand at the recently concluded TFWA World Exhibition in Cannes.
Coccinelle recorded a +20% sales increase in 2022 with a peak of over +30% for its retail channel and +20% for wholesale. These positive results are reflected in the performance of Coccinelle Travel Retail, which is extending its store network through the opening of 21 multibrand locations last year.
These include counters in Berlin Airport and Hamburg Airport, Chania International Airport and Rome Fiumicino Airport Pier A. Last year, the brand also refurbished its space at Frankfurt Airport and opened a counter in Bologna Airport in early 2023.
(Left) Coccinelle COO Emanuele Mazziotta and (right) Head of International Markets & Global Travel Retail Giada Cappelletti
Mazziotta, who was Head of Global Travel Retail for the brand before his appointment as COO in 2020, holds the channel in high esteem. He says: “For me, travel retail is crucial for a brand because while it does drive sales, it also creates desirability and visibility. Travel retail is also a communication and marketing channel, because your brand is seen by millions of passengers in airports, cruise ships and downtown duty free.”
His commitment to the channel remained steadfast throughout the tumultuous COVID years, where Coccinelle doubled down on its support for the industry. “Pre-pandemic, we had good momentum in the channel. In 2018, we had almost 180 points of sale worldwide including counters in Europe, Russia, Asia Pacific and cruise. The pandemic was ‘a bad adventure’ but we have always remained keen on travel retail.
“Even if the travel retail business has been really tough these past few years, myself and Coccinelle have always believed in the channel. This is why we have consistently showed at the TFWA World Exhibition throughout the pandemic.”
Coccinelle’s debut footwear collection takes inspiration from the key details, material and motifs that feature across its main bag lines
A holistic approach to travel retail and domestic
Coccinelle has a strong presence in Italy and Europe for both its travel retail and domestic businesses. Italy accounts for 44% of total sales (between direct and indirect channels, wholesale and ecommerce), while Europe contributes to 46% of the pie. The Asian market, which currently accounts for 8% of sales, is growing consistently, the company said.
In the last months of 2022, Coccinelle opened two boutiques in China – one in Shanghai and the other in Wuhan. In January 2023, it opened two additional mono brand stores in Nanjing and at the Shanghai Village, with additional openings in Thailand and the wider region planned for 2023.
“For me, travel retail is crucial for a brand because while it does drive sales, it also creates desirability and visibility”
– Emanuele Mazziotta
“We are recovering very well thanks to new markets and the consolidation of more mature markets,” Mazziotta says. “Our brand awareness in Europe is very strong and we’re already working with great partners such as Gebr. Heinemann, Avolta and Lagardère Travel Retail in this key region. In Asia Pacific, we’re working with King Power Thailand, China Duty Free Group and MSC Cruises and Starboard Cruise Services.
“We’ve always believed that travel retail is a shop window to the world and have been constantly developing our network through the pandemic. Our distribution may not be the same as pre-COVID but we saw the pandemic as an opportunity to rethink our distribution and optimise.
Coccinelle opened a new boutique in Nanjing as the brand continues to expand its network in China
Coccinelle streamlined its store network during the pandemic going from 180 points of sale to 120 points of sale globally
“Today, we are at 120 points of sale globally between monobrands, corners, multibrand areas and cruise liners. From the atmosphere in Cannes this year, I can see that travel retail is well and truly back and that the industry is recovering.”
To meet this new uptick, Coccinelle’s travel retail division has undergone a major reorganisation. Giada Cappelletti was named Head of International Markets & Global Travel Retail. This appointment comes as the brand seeks to drive growth and profitability in its travel retail division.
“Giada’s appointment will help drive our vision to create synergies between our travel retail business and our domestic operations,” Mazziotta explains. “Even if the approach is different for travel retail and domestic, the experience we need to deliver to the customer is absolutely the same. So, the harmonisation of both channels is important for us.”
The launch of the shoe range marks a new chapter in Coccinelle’s business expansion and represents a new market for the brand
Footwear: the accessory to accessories
Coccinelle recently expanded into footwear for its Fall 2023 collection. The shoe range launched in global travel retail on 16 September. The collection takes colour, material and design cues from Coccinelle’s main bag line and features the brand’s signature smooth leather, suede and monogram fabrics.
Footwear represents an exciting new frontier for Coccinelle, whose core product category leather bags is contributing to 80% of total sales and small leather goods and mini bags growing to 18% of the total turnover.
Mazziotta explains: “From ideation to launch, we were able to launch our first-ever shoe range in about a year. We are very agile and flexible and that is due to our customer-centric approach. If we’re not fast enough, we miss the opportunity. We conducted some surveys with our stores and subsidiaries in different markets and there was huge interest from the customers for Coccinelle shoes.
“Footwear is a complementary category for us and we see it as an accessory to our accessories. We launched a capsule collection for Winter 2023 and then followed this with Spring 2024, which is a full seasonal range. In terms of performance, initial results have already been very positive.
“We will be launching the shoe collection in travel retail in selected stores because we need the proper environment and space to bring this to life. We are planning to roll out across our monobrands boutiques and in select counters.”
A customer-centric approach
In this new era of retailing, Coccinelle is approaching a refreshed model which is much more customer-centric, Mazziotta says. “This approach, driven by insights gained from surveys and focus groups, empowers us to structure the right collections for our customers no matter if they are in our home market of Italy, or in Asia, Europe and the Middle East, where we are entering the domestic market quite soon. We are adapting our offer to the very specific needs of these different customers.
“Our communication strategy is also moving in that direction,” he adds. “In travel retail, travellers may enter a store and see some nice products on the shelves, but without brand engagement and storytelling that interaction won’t convert. To address this, we are training our in-store staff to be able to tell the Coccinelle story effectively and to engage with customers in a meaningful way.
“Together with Giada, we are working to implement this holistic approach to clienteling and training in terms of company history, product and visual merchandising across our entire network in travel retail. Again, this is linked to bridging the gap between travel retail and domestic. When they travel, customers see Coccinelle, they don’t see the distinction between retailers, brands, travel retail and domestic so our approach needs to be holistic and unified as well.”
In our recent Category Insight Luxury Goods survey, several brands from across the fashion, accessories, watches and jewellery sector highlighted an imbalance to the space and attention given to big luxury houses and affordable luxury players. However, according to Mazziotta, there will always be space and opportunity for affordable luxury in the airport environment, especially as more consumers seek value and experience.
He says: “While the general consensus is that more space is being given to super-luxury brands, I believe that retailers and airport authorities are also putting investments into premium and affordable luxury. Otherwise, Coccinelle would not have reached 180 points of sale in 2018.
Some standout products include the Monogram sneaker, Magalù and Magie boots. The Monogram sneaker can be customised, while the Magalù and Magie boots feature plectrum closures and elegant metallic details to mirror the same details found on Coccinelle’s bags.
“In recent years, the trend has been for customers to upscale and go towards more prestige brands, which is why airport authorities and retailers are giving less space to affordable luxury brands. All these things come from the end consumer. We are seeing the same trend in domestic markets where department stores are skewing towards having a more super-luxury offering, with less and less space for affordable luxury.
“When I started my career in travel retail, there was a lot of space for affordable luxury, because the super-luxury brands were not interested in the channel at the time. In the years since, they discovered that travel retail is a good shop window to the world, and so now a lot of those brands are very present in the channel.
“Fashion is the accessory of the travel retail offer. For an airport, it’s good to have fashion because it gives that lifestyle element but it’s not a core business for the industry. Now that extreme-luxury brands are very present in the channel, with outstanding standalone boutiques and pop-ups, we have to split the cake with more players, though that isn’t necessarily a bad thing.”
Mazziotta concludes: “At the end of the day, if we didn’t have enough space or didn’t have enough opportunities in travel retail then we wouldn’t be here today. But we are here at the show and happy to meet new partners and existing clients because we believe that there are still a lot of opportunities for affordable luxury in travel retail.”
Offering a final message to the industry, Mazziotta says: “I’m from travel retail and so I always have it in my heart. Travel retail is an amazing industry which is all about community. Now that I’m covering a different position, where I can see what’s happening in the domestic market and other channels, I can say that the human factor we have in travel retail is particularly special. At the end of the day, we’re not just partners but family, which makes this industry pretty special.”
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