Online luxury fashion retailer Mytheresa says “high-spending, wardrobe-building” consumers helped drive a strong quarter.
The Dutch company on Tuesday (Feb. 11) released earnings showing sales up a little more than 13% for the quarter, with CEO Michael Kliger praising the efforts of “big spenders” in markets such as the U.S. and Europe.
“We continue to see they spend more and more with us, spend more and more on digital, and there’s this geographic polarization,” he told analysts during an earnings call.
“We have seen continuous improvement in the U.S. post-election, really strong demand and we are very happy with our European business, almost 13% growth.”
Sales in the U.S. and Europe, Kliger added later in the call, are being driven by “aspirational customers” buying things like bags and accessories.
In Asia meanwhile — and in China in particular — demand remains dampened by the economic outlook, the chief executive added.
“The slowdown … has really surprised many players, leading to high inventory levels, and it’s not only us,” Kliger said.
“We are actually slightly below last year’s inventory, despite revenue growth. But the digestion of inventory or oversupply of inventory has happened across the board. So while we only see small green shoots in some places, the health of the industry is dramatically better than 12 months ago.”
PYMNTS explored this trend in a report last week, noting that many analysts expect the luxury space to report only small levels of growth for the next two years. Others argue the sector should target older consumers after years of overlooking this group.
“Older generations not only have more disposable income but are also less price-sensitive and highly brand-loyal,” Bellamy Grindl, principal and founder of Retailytics, said in an interview with PYMNTS last month.
“They value quality and heritage, which aligns perfectly with what luxury brands offer. The problem is many feel ignored because media and marketing remain hyper-focused on younger audiences. By prioritizing youth, brands risk alienating a demographic that’s eager to invest in their products.”
Meanwhile, Mytheresa also outlined plans for its pending acquisition of YNAP, a deal announced last year and set to become final during the first half of this year.
Kliger said that — in terms of the technical undertaking involved — the best solution was to bring the YNAP brands onto the Mytheresa platform.
“We have a platform that works,” he said. “It’s fully owned by us, fully operated by us. We know it inside out. We have a strong engineering bench to do that.”
