JAPAN. US leathergoods and fashion house Coach is seeing a return on its investment in Japan over the past two years, with massive exposure and credibility with Japanese travel shoppers.
“The big news in Japan is Coach,” said Naomi Moriyama, an expert on marketing to Japanese consumers and founder of luxury goods consultancy Digital Powerhouse in an interview with The Moodie Report.
“With the 2001 launch of its Coach Japan joint venture with giant trading company Sumitomo Corporation, and the May 2002 unveiling of its flagship store, Coach has really taken off.”
“The Coach success story highlights the potential of an ‘affordable luxury’ positioning in Japan”, said Moriyama.
Coach’s fiscal 2003 Japan revenues are projected to exceed US$150 million from almost 100 retail locations, a sales increase of over +40% from 2002 and today the Japanese consumer accounts for 20% of Coach sales, which could jump to 35% by 2007.
President of Coach Japan Ian Bickley said earlier this year: “We are truly delighted with our second Japan flagship in the hip and fashionable Shibuya section of Tokyo. This is key to growing and broadening Coach’s market share with the important [younger and stylish] consumer group.”
Coach, the fifth largest imported leathergoods brand in Japan, has another ten Japanese locations scheduled to open this year, but the company could not say whether specific duty free locations would be included in this latest roll-out.
Click here to read the full interview with Naomi Moriyama on the Japanese market
