Kaufhaus Des Westens (KaDeWe) is the second largest store of its kind in Europe after London's Harrods. André Maeder, CEO of The KaDeWe Group, spoke to Fibre2Fashion, about how the store’s performance was affected during the pandemic, their five-year store development programme focused around customers, and future plans.
What is unique to KaDeWe which makes it one of the largest stores in Europe?
With the size of 60,000 sqm net selling space, KaDeWe in Berlin is one of the most popular and frequently visited department stores in Europe, due to a recent and huge store development programme over the past five years with a total investment of 300 million euros.
Next to KaDeWe, the Alsterhaus in Hamburg and Oberpollinger in Munich belong to The KaDeWe Group, which are both completely renovated - all three stores with an investment of around 600 million euros. These stores are icons in their cities and are places for inspiration, joy and a unique shopping experience.
Which price points across which categories sell the best?
Price is not the key decision point for our customers. However, we have products for everyone.
Which are the branding and advertising initiatives you have been taking to attract more customers?
After a five-year store development programme, our next big focus point is customer centricity. We will bring our customers even more to the center of everything we do.
How did the store perform after the world was gripped by the pandemic? How was the performance compared to pre-pandemic times?
All three stores were closed for around four months in 2020, and customers were restricted access to them. For example, with Click & Meet and currently with 2G regulations, customers must have recovered or vaccinated. Due to this, our footfall declined by around 40 per cent compared to a normal year.
Has business been back on track or are there still some issues you may be facing?
Our three department stores are still under above mentioned regulations.
E-commerce has been a major force to reckon with, and the trend has only intensified during this pandemic time. How challenging is it for you to compete with e-commerce biggies such as Amazon, Alibaba, Flipkart and the likes?
Our webshop and e-commerce is our youngest baby, and we are online since one and a half years. We are extremely satisfied with the growth that will surely continue over the next few years. We are not aiming for a marketplace like Amazon or Alibaba, rather for an overall omnichannel strategy.
E-commerce has also brought in the culture of deep discounts. What is your response to it?
In our three stores, we have a very clear sales strategy with two sales periods per year (winter and summer sale). Beside that we are strictly not discounted.
On an average how many footfalls does your store receive on any given day?
On a normal average day before the pandemic, we used to have around 50,000 visitors a day, on special occasions like Christmas or promotion days up to 100,000.
What is the process for on-boarding a vendor at your store?
We have a buying team that travels globally to find exclusively the most wanted or best fitting brands for our three stores. Then, space and conditions have to be negotiated. Sustainability and quality are very important decision aspects as well. Our aim is to offer our customers a most exclusive and curated assortment.
Do you plan to get into the phygital space soon? What plans you have for the future?
For the future, everything we do will have a digital aspect and for sure our customers, especially the young generation, expects the synergies, advantages and channel intertwine of digital and analogue stores.
Looking towards the future, our new department stores in Dusseldorf (opening fall 2023) and Vienna (opening fall 2024) will be the most digital stores in their countries.
Which price-points fare well across categories in womenswear, menswear and kids wear?
The pandemic changed the shopping behaviour of our customers towards more casual, sportswear and contemporary styles.
Published on: 28/12/2021
DISCLAIMER: All views and opinions expressed in this column are solely of the interviewee, and they do not reflect in any way the opinion of Fibre2Fashion.com.
