Following the announcement of Moncler's initial public offering (IPO) on the Milan Stock Exchange, Chairman and Creative Director Remo Ruffini and retail managers visited Japan for an IR caravan to explain the company's business development in the Japanese market and future strategies.
Ruffini, who acquired Moncler in 2003, has grown the brand into a luxury down jacket brand and plans to list it on the stock exchange on December 16th. He has also announced that he will be offering shares in Japan without listing on the Japanese stock exchange. At the IR event held on December 9th, President Yuzo Yagi of Yagi Tsusho, which has been a business partnership in Japan since the establishment of a joint venture 10 years ago, took the stage and spoke about the market situation in Japan, saying, "We were attracted by the value and future potential of Moncler's products and began selling them in Japan in 1996. Since Ruffini took over as creative director and CEO in 2003, they have grown rapidly. By thoroughly implementing their European methods in Japan, we have succeeded in increasing sales and profits and improving brand value. Moncler's popularity is evidenced by the lines that formed at several stores in Japan in July, when the weather was incredibly hot, for the new fall/winter collections. We currently have requests to open stores from 15 to 20 department stores, and we are carefully selecting the best locations based on various criteria." Ruffini and other Moncler executives then appeared and cited "tradition," "originality," "quality," and "consistency" as the company's keywords for success to date. The company emphasizes its strengths, including a product strategy that emphasizes creativity and innovation through collaboration between designers and engineers, a brand value built through an original communication strategy that rejects licensing and royalties, and thorough business management.
Sales for the fiscal year ending September 2013 reached 489 million euros, a 31.6% increase over the two years since 2010, and profitability grew by 33.5%. To further expand, the company says that a review of its distribution channels will be key to its future business strategy. As of September 2013, it operates 24 shop-in-shops and 98 directly managed stores worldwide. Going forward, it will eliminate all distributors and convert all shop-in-shops to directly managed stores. The number of wholesale customers has decreased from 2,200 in 2010 to 1,800 as of September 2013, and the company plans to reduce this to 1,650. Accordingly, the retail share of sales has risen from 27% in 2010 to 51% as of September 2013, with a target of 70% by 2017. The company will also further strengthen its e-commerce business, which has already launched.
The company also values its directly operated stores as a place for direct communication with customers and a way to express the brand's worldview. Consistent store design and window displays symbolize this strategy. Since opening its first directly operated store in St. Moritz in 2006 and its first urban store in Paris in 2007, the company has continued to open an average of 20 stores per year. This year, 15 stores have opened by September, with nine more to open by the end of the year. In addition, the company has secured approximately 18 new locations and is currently in negotiations for additional locations. Potential locations include London, Ginza, Hong Kong, New York, Moscow, Brazil, Mexico, Dubai, and Istanbul.
These new stores were selected after meeting strict criteria, including location, store size, and visual merchandising. The company expects to be profitable within one year of opening and to recover its investment within three years. To date, all stores have achieved profitability in the first year, and have recovered their investment capital in an average of two years, with some stores even recovering it in just one year.
The luxury market has experienced double-digit growth over the past three years, primarily in Asia. The company is enthusiastic about the fact that there are still markets and customers to reach. To overcome the weakness of sales being concentrated in winter due to the characteristics of its products, the company is focusing on developing all-season products such as ultra-light jackets, expanding its knitwear and accessories line, and implementing strategies such as the establishment of Moncler Travel.
"Through the IPO, we hope to increase our international recognition in the stock market and attract investors and talent," said Ruffini. In Japan, the company's second-largest market after Italy, 10% of the shares will be offered, representing approximately 30% of the total.
