Danish Shoe Brand ECCO Last Year'S Performance Innovation High School Online Sales Growth Of Up To 44%

Danish shoe brand ECCO (Chinese name ECCO) recently released its 2018 earnings report.

In 2018, despite the grim retail environment, ECCO still achieved double growth in sales and profits, not only exceeding group expectations, but also creating a new record in the past 55 years.

Among them, the Chinese market has contributed a lot, especially online channels, with sales up to 44%.

In 2018, ECCO sales increased by 2.6% to 1 billion 309 million euros compared to the previous year. Profits before interest tax depreciation and amortization increased by 7.4% to 259 million euros, and pre tax profit increased 9.2% to 201 million euros, an increase of 11.7% at comparable exchange rates.

According to the comparable exchange rate, sales of all categories of the group increased.

Among them, sales of footwear increased by 5%, accessories increased by 5.8%, and leather goods increased by 6.5%.

The sales volume of group retail and e-commerce business increased by 14%. According to the comparable exchange rate, the electricity business sales increased by 36%.

From the sub regional perspective, the sales volume of the group in North America and the Asia Pacific region has increased.

Compared with comparable exchange rates, the growth rate of the North American market was 12.6%, and all sales channels achieved sales growth, of which the electricity business grew by 25% over the same period last year.

The Asia Pacific region benefited from the expansion strategy, achieving a 9.7% growth in sales with comparable exchange rates.

The Greater China region continues to expand its retail sector by opening new stores and taking over more retail networks. Sales increased by 11% at comparable exchange rates, and online sales in mainland China increased by 44%.

Sales in Asian markets outside the Greater China region increased by 6.1% on a comparable exchange rate, mainly driven by the opening and growth of new stores in major markets such as Korea, Japan and Singapore.

Sales in Europe dropped by 3.1%.

The group CEO Steen Borgholm said in its earnings report that the global political crisis in 2018 was a negative factor for global company such as ECCO. Nevertheless, ECCO managed to achieve its best annual performance so far.

Global trade and commerce are becoming more unpredictable, and this trend will continue. Macroeconomic development is expected to slow in 2019.

The global retail industry is concentrating on the strategy of redefining and closer to the market, as well as fighting the current highly promoted retail environment.

With the increasing proportion of digital channels in the market share, the pace of industry consolidation will continue.

In 2018, ECCO sales and profit growth refreshed the 55 year record of the group's establishment. Last year, the group's innovative EXOSTRIKE series and ECCO BIOM Hybrid 3 had a good resonance with customers.

ECCO currently has 21300 employees and 2250 stores in 99 countries and regions around the world. The huge system makes the group no longer have the flexibility to start business, but this does not mean that it is stagnant.

In 2018, the Group invested more in Digitalization in product design, management and sales, and distributed all channels of retail network. As a matter of fact, it proved that this is the way consumers want to buy.

In 2018, the group saw positive progress in strategic and operational implementation, including successful product launches, efficient and reliable supply chains, and strong growth in the Asian and North American markets.

Steen Borgholm said that in 2019, the group will continue to play its strategic advantages and maintain its success in the coming years and achieve sustainable and healthy growth.