Department store chain Peek & Cloppenburg targets growth in 2018 once more. Even though turnover in its home territory, Germany, has stagnated, its goal is to increase the average customer spend and to turn its attention to premium brands.
Turnover needs to grow in 2018
Online platforms like Amazon and Zalando have changed the fashion industry so rapidly that it has become increasingly difficult to keep up with expectations, John Cloppenburg told German Handelsblatt. He is not only CEO Harre Uwe’s son, but also co-CEO of department store group P&C Düsseldorf. He works in the Düsseldorf store twice a month to find out what customers really want and expect from P&C. Aside from being the purchase and premium brand director, he is also the face of the family enterprise.
The department store chain’s German turnover has stagnated, Cloppenburg admitted, but he is convinced that it will grow again in 2018. The German fashion group consists of two separate entities, which dates back to 1911: Peek & Cloppenburg Düsseldorf and Peek & Cloppenburg Hamburg. Its foreign stores, including those in the Netherlands and Belgium, are part of Peek & Cloppenburg Düsseldorf, which has a 1.5 billion euro German turnover and another 650 million euro turnover abroad.
Designer corners and private label shop-in-shops
“It will be important to increase the average consumer spend”, Cloppenburg said. Increased premium brand sales should help achieve that: he is in talks with Furla and Kate Spade to expand the chain’s handbag product range. The stores have also added a new designer corner for men’s items, with brands like Marni and hand-made shirts from Naples. The company may also introduce additional shoes as well.
Private labels continue to contribute a third of P&C’s turnover and Cloppenburg feels they could still grow. “We will have shop-in-shops for each of our well-developed private label, Jake’s, in every store.”
He also intends to improve the online customer experience. “At first, we underestimated the internet’s potential”, but online sales already contribute nearly eight percent of German turnover and the chain has also recently invested 100 million euro to improve its IT infrastructure in order to catch up.
