Swarovski CEO Analyzes America’s Unique Tastes – The holiday season is a busy time for Swarovski as gift buyers and home decor enthusiasts, especially those in the United States, enjoy dazzling Christmas decorations, sparkling jewelry, and adorable figurines from Austrian Crystal Makers.
Swarovski CEO Analyzes America’s Unique Tastes
swarovskijewelry – “People are really coming back to decorate their homes,” Kolja Kiofsky, Swarovski’s general manager for North America, told the Observer earlier this month at Swarovski’s flagship store on Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan.
The Fifth Avenue store, the largest Swarovski store in the world to date, represents a new beginning for the 128-year-old family company, under the leadership of its new CEO, Alexis Nasard, and creative director Giovanna Engelbert. The two-story retail space, previously occupied by Gap, is filled with pastel pinks, greens, yellows, and creams, and textures — marble, chrome, quilted velvet, and silk — all aimed at giving customers “the feeling of being in luxury” . .jewelry box,” said Engelbert, who designed it
space, in a press release.
Household products, including figurines, decorations, glass and tableware, account for about 15% of Swarovski’s consumer business. America is the main market. Seeing a growing interest in home decor products across demographics, in recent years Swarovski has partnered with iconic pop culture brands, including Disney, Marvel and DC Comics, to launch home decor and movie figurines, starting at $95 (palm size). Aladdin’s Magic Lamp) for $33,000 (oversized limited edition Superman encrusted with crystals from head to toe).
“Our home collection has grown and we’re seeing customers appreciate our selection more,” Kiofsky, who manages about 250 Swarovski stores in the United States and Canada as well as the company’s retail business, told the Observer.
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“Bigger and bolder” is a clear trend, at least in the United States.
Swarovski owns and operates approximately 1,200 stores worldwide, with revenue split almost evenly between Europe, Asia and the Americas. But what consumers buy in these markets varies widely. “We clearly see differences in regional preferences. “We deliberately present different variations in our collections to meet consumer needs,” said Kiofsky. “For example, in the United States, our domestic business, especially collectible figurines, makes up the largest part of our business [compared to other markets]. , we tend to sell fancier, smaller items, like necklaces and bracelets. And in Southern Europe and Latin America, they tend to sell bigger, bolder items.
(Interestingly, similar geographic variations are seen in engagement ring preferences).
Jewelry remains Swarovski’s largest category, accounting for 80% of its consumer business. Despite the emergence of counterintuitive phenomena in other areas of fashion, such as understated luxury, “getting bigger and bolder,” Kiofsky said, is a clear trend in jewelry, as Swarovski’s top-selling product category in the United States, such as Engelbert’s New Millennium. meeting bold geometric designs and the company’s range of body jewelry created in collaboration with Kim Kardashian’s Skims lingerie brand.
To that end, Swarovski launched its first line of synthetic diamonds last year, offering a more affordable (and ethical) alternative to natural diamonds. “Customers tell us, first of all, that, as a brand, we have the credibility to be in the synthetic diamond business because we have 130 years of experience in growing and cutting artificial minerals. And second, they liked the design Kiofsky said.
Swarovski chose to sell its synthetic diamonds first in the United States, where consumers prefer large stones more than anywhere else. “We find that diamond customers often have limited budgets. “With lab-grown diamonds, they’re not necessarily trying to reduce expenses; they were trying to get a bigger space for the same budget,” Kiofsky said.
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Swarovski defines luxury differently
As a luxury brand, Swarovski appeals to a wide audience with products that range in price from less than $50 to tens of thousands of dollars. Kiofsky said Swarovski does not define luxury based on price, but focuses on creating unique experiences. “Luxury can be perceived very differently by consumers depending on where they come from,” he said. “A $49 pair of earrings may seem luxurious to some people. “We want to provide this experience, no matter what product the customer is looking for.”
Kiofsky, a former Porsche marketing executive, joined Swarovski in 2010 and over the past decade has led the company’s sales and marketing efforts in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. He took over as CEO for North America in 2021 as part of a company-wide restructuring led by new CEO Alexis Nasard, the first person outside the Swarovski family to lead “the business.” Prior to joining Swarovski, Nasard was a consultant at McKinsey & Co. Early in his career, he held management positions at consumer goods companies.
“Swarovski luxury is not traditional luxury, which is about swagger and high prices, and you take it seriously,” Nasard said in a video interview with CNN last week. “Our luxury is about providing joy, self-expression, the pleasure of pampering, and the ability to be as beautiful as you wish.”