Ecco’s line of outdoor shoes proved very popular in 2019, driven by the Danish group’s focus on developing its retail portfolio to secure the right locations as consumer and traffic patterns change. During 2019, the store portfolio growth slowed to only six extra shops, with 200 openings and 194 closings. The online and omni-channel shopping experiences were also supported by significant investments in technology platforms. In business-to-business sales, more than 80 percent of all wholesale sales were automated and handled from digital platforms, and Ecco’s first digital showroom was launched.
During the year, Ecco’s growing hybrid and athleisure categories proved successful, led by new designs, along with ST.1 and Multivent technologies. In the women’s category, the elevated comfort technology concept, Shape Sculptured Motion, drew new consumers to the brand. Among other items, the successful collaborations with Stone Island and Saks Potts exposed the brand to new consumers. The Ecco Soft 7 Tred W won the 2019 Ispo Award in the Outdoor category for Hiking and Trekking Footwear, while the DriTan by Ecco Leather won the 2019 Scandinavian Outdoor Award in the Technology category.
Another highlight of the year was the start of the construction of a shoe factory in Vietnam, its sixth shoe factory across the globe. The new factory is expected to be operational in autumn 2020 and will employ around 1,400 people to produce premium quality uppers. The group also opened an environmentally-friendly leather cutting plant in Xiamen, China, equipped with rooftop solar panels. In addition to being energy-neutral, the new facilities are able to export surplus energy to Ecco’s tannery.
Towards the end of the year, Ecco reached an agreement to buy the business in Russia from its long-standing partners. There are currently 216 Ecco shops in Russia, Belarus and Kazakstan, including franchise partner shops in Armenia, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan and Kirghizistan.
In 2019, the Danish company’s sales rose by 3.8 percent to €1,360 million. Investments in direct-to-consumer sales channels continued in 2019, with net sales from retail and e-commerce combined increasing by 10.9 percent. Revenues from online channels grew by 22.2 percent, and by 8.2 percent at brick and mortar stores.
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