Ante Rimac, Director at KIK Textillien, discusses the company’s adjustments to the evolving retail industry and reveals their plans for 2023.
KIK Textillien is a leading German retailer known for offering high-quality fashion and home goods at affordable prices. Operating since the 1990s, the brand has established a retail network spanning over 4.000 stores throughout Europe.
In order to stay ahead of the ever-evolving retail landscape, we spoke with KIK Textillien to learn about their business adaptations and future plans for 2023.
Ante Rimac, the Managing Director of KIK Textille for Croatia, Slovenia, Italy, and Hungary, kindly provided the answers to our questions.
How many stores have you opened in 2022?
Despite all the challenges given, we managed to finish another year successfully. We consolidated our shop network and were able to further strengthen our footprint in non-saturated markets.
In markets that I manage, we closed 2022 with 10 new stores in Croatia, 1 in Slovenia, 7 in Hungary, and 24 in Italy. With the new openings, the company now operates a retail network of 93 stores in Croatia, 62 in Slovenia, 111 in Hungary, and 100 in Italy.
In other countries, we have now 2.500+ stores in Germany, 250+ in Austria, 225+ in the Czech Republic, 105+ in Slovakia, 440+ in Poland, 45+ in the Netherlands, 100+ in Romania, 40+ in Bulgaria, 9 in Spain, and 3 in Portugal.
Do you see any significant changes in consumer behavior and how have you adapted to these changes?
Global inflation has caused prices to rise across all retail sectors. Higher interest rates on loans have become a burden for customers, leading them to become even more price sensitive and mindful of their spending. Despite our own increasing operational costs, we made a concerted effort to maintain retail prices at the same level as much as possible last year.
Expanding E-Commerce
Online shopping has also increased in popularity, and due to this, we are now working on launching our e-commerce business in all our countries. KIK has been operating an online store in Germany for some time now and last year we expanded the e-commerce business to Austria as our first step towards global online expansion.
Introducing a Loyalty Program
We launched last year our loyalty program “myKIK” in the Netherlands and Germany, which we will gradually introduce to all the other countries where we operate. The program rewards our loyal customers with discounts, helping them save during these challenging economic times. Furthermore, it provides us with deeper insights into our customers’ needs, which we can use to enhance our product offerings and promotions.
Optimising Business Processes
Additionally, we are making significant investments in the digitalization of our business processes to make them even more efficient, and transparent.
What are your expansion plans for 2023?
We will continue to expand our retail network. In the region, so far, we have up to 10 new openings planned in Croatia, 5 in Slovenia, 50 in Italy, and 10 in Hungary.
We prefer to expand in retail parks and shopping centers, rather than high street locations. The average size of our stores is 650 sqm.
Will you be entering any new markets?
Last year we entered Spain and Portugal. We are observing new markets but it is too early to confirm which ones we will pick for our further expansion.
KIK Textillien Resilience and Adaptability
In conclusion, KIK Textillien has demonstrated its resilience and ability to adapt to the ever-changing retail landscape. With its strong retail network spanning across Europe and its commitment to maintaining affordability, the company has positioned itself as a leader in the fashion and home goods industry.
With the launch of its e-commerce platform, loyalty program, and continued optimization of business processes, KIK is ready to take on the challenges of 2023 and beyond. The company’s expansion plans in existing markets and its determination to explore new opportunities are a testament to its unwavering dedication to growth and success.
Learn more about KIK: https://www.kik.de
