Introduction: Coccinelle made a return to the 2024 TFWA Asia Pacific Exhibition in Singapore (12-16 May), where it welcomed partners to a private hospitality suite, dressed in the brand’s signature pink and green colour palette.
Coccinelle recorded a +12% increase in full-year sales in 2023 and growth across all markets and channels, particularly in its home country of Italy, which accounted for 44% of total sales. The rest of Europe accounted for 39%.
Asia Pacific at 10% of total sales represents an exciting expansion opportunity. The brand’s return to the Singapore show underlines its commitment to growing its presence in Asia Pacific travel retail, particularly in markets where it already has a strong domestic presence.
Below, Coccinelle Head of Global Travel Retail Giada Cappelletti chats with The Moodie Davitt Report Brands Director Hannah Tan about the Italian leathergoods brand’s ‘consumer-centric’ approach to engaging and recruiting customers in the channel. She also previews Coccinelle’s summer collection, its biggest priorities for the year ahead and why she believes that “there is space for everyone”, especially premium brands, in the airport environment.
Talk us through Coccinelle’s latest collections. What are the key design elements and why do you think this range stands out among other fashion & accessories lines in the channel?
Giada Cappelletti: We are showcasing our spring/summer collection of shoes and bags for which we have developed new hardware featuring our signature shapes with a C emblem and knot. It is inspired by the sunny streets of Lisbon and the new hardware gives it a fresh contemporary look. We are also introducing updated silhouettes in this range, which we feel will attract young and stylish travellers.
The line is very important for us and we hope that it will do well in Asia Pacific travel retail. Our positioning is premium but accessible, and that is reflected in our pricing and communication. While a lot of our peers are raising prices, we plan to stay true to our current pricing strategy despite difficult times.
What are your biggest priorities for Coccinelle in APAC travel retail? How important is this region to overall GTR business?
Our immediate priority is to grow our travel retail distribution network, especially where Coccinelle already has a presence domestically. We want to expand our network and build synergies in this key region and grow in new countries with our domestic business too.
We are restarting Asia Pacific travel retail in a strong and consistent way – and the brand is growing day by day. We have invested a lot into launching new products and visual campaigns. We are already launching these collections and campaigns in key Asia Pacific stores including our main store in Bangkok and two in Shanghai.
We have a good domestic presence in Mainland China, Thailand and Japan and want to leverage our brand awareness in these key markets to grow our presence in travel retail too.
Last year, Coccinelle introduced a new customer-centric business model. How does this model influence your product/merchandising/marketing approach in this region?
We are remaining consistent with this approach. While we want to address evolving consumer needs, we are Coccinelle and so we must balance consumer-centricity with our core values. We want to target younger consumers, while keeping our historic customers happy too.
In the current geopolitical landscape, why do you think retailers should give premium brands such as Coccinelle more space in the airport environment?
We are positioned as a premium brand in the fashion & accessories segment. For us, space is not the most important thing, but instead the quality. In my view, our most beautiful spaces are around 60-70sq m – our excellent visual merchandising team really know how to maximise our square footage.
I believe that there is space for everyone in travel retail, not just luxury brands. There is a demand for more accessible luxury/premium brands which are elevated from the high street but not at the price point of the uber luxe such as Gucci, Bulgari or Dolce & Gabbana. Not everyone can buy a Gucci bag, but they do want something that is nice, well made, with good craftsmanship and heritage that will let them express their style.
Coccinelle notably launched shoes in 2023. How is the category faring?
Leather bags represented 70% of Coccinelle’s sales in 2023, while small leathergoods and mini bags grew to 22%. We have recorded a +5% increase in our overall turnover in the fourth quarter of FY2024 with shoes growing by +12%. We are dedicating even more retail space to shoes to complement our bag ranges and our customers are really responding well to mixing and matching across our categories.
What are your biggest priorities for the year ahead?
In travel retail, our biggest priority is to increase our presence in Asia and the Middle East. We just opened a store in Abu Dhabi and then two more in Dubai. This is important because opening these standalone boutiques in the domestic market is the first step to entering the travel retail channel in the Middle East. ✈
