Specialist
Former global chief commercial officer at Hugo Boss AG
Agenda
- Organic growth outlook by region, discussing key drivers across Boss and Hugo and product optimisation requirements
- Channel strategy analysis – online improvement opportunities and retail vs wholesale dynamics
- Gross and EBIT margin expansion scope
Questions
1.
What is your 2022 organic growth outlook, given this is key to Hugo Boss’ turnaround story? Could you outline some key drivers of this growth?
2.
You mentioned the resurgence of coronavirus cases in China and the Russia-Ukraine conflict as limiting growth drivers for Hugo Boss. What does this mean? If we look at the impact of the war on European demand, how do you expect the European division to perform in this context? What are the key factors, and what outlook do you have here?
3.
You mentioned the demand outlook in China. To what extent do you think we could see a rebound in growth there once the lockdowns are eased?
4.
How are you expecting growth to differ across Hugo and Boss, the two key brands?
5.
Hugo Boss’ 2021 annual report states the Boss brand is still underperforming vs 2019. Why do you think that is?
6.
Might the moderate growth rate you’re expecting in 2022 come from new customers and not the traditional cohort of customers? Do you think this is likely to be driven by the core, traditional Hugo Boss customer base?
7.
Do you think the demand that we saw coming through in 2021 was from customers increasing savings due to coronavirus, and those savings won’t necessarily be realised in the same way in 2022, which is why we could see a drop-off in demand? Is that partly what you’re saying?
8.
How do you rate Hugo Boss’ current product offer across its fashion desirability, quality, price and depth? A big part of the growth is obviously dependent on the turnaround of the brand, and product is key to that turnaround story.
9.
What additional change in product positioning do you think is required for Hugo Boss?
10.
You mentioned a decrease in price points in shoes, but what do you think is the correct positioning for Boss in today’s market?
11.
How do you think ASPs are likely to trend in 2022? You also have the factor of inflation.
12.
Why do you think prices reduced during 2021?
13.
How confident are you that 100% of the COGS inflation will be passed on to the customer through the price hikes we’re seeing in 2022?
14.
If we see selling prices increase from EUR 120 to EUR 130-140, do you think that’s sufficient in terms of passing on the COGS inflation?
15.
You mentioned you expect Hugo Boss to take market share. Who do you think the brand will be taking market share from in this context?
16.
Why do you think Hugo Boss will be able to take share from the players you just highlighted?
17.
How do you view the growth opportunity for Hugo Boss in womenswear? I think this is viewed as a potential opportunity, at least in the mid-term.
18.
What do you think the key challenges are within the womenswear collection? Why hasn’t it been successful to date?
19.
How are you expecting growth to differ in-store vs online in 2022 for Hugo Boss? What are the key drivers behind that?
20.
How do you rate the dot-com channel experience on the customer side?
21.
What improvements do you think are required to further drive growth in the dot-com channel?
22.
How realistic do you think it is to assume that Hugo Boss could reach a 25-30% penetration by 2025, given the website has improved?
23.
You mentioned further highlighting the starting price or the entry-level prices. How does the online channel impact ASP and AOV?
24.
To what extent is the online growth cannibalising the in-store channel rather than generating incremental growth?
25.
What are the core challenges in the retail in-store offering at Hugo Boss?
26.
What improvement do you think is possible, if we look at this relatively or in absolute numbers, in terms of sales density?
27.
What sort of rightsizing do you think is required across regions?
28.
What is your outlook for shop-in-shops and the other stores?
29.
How confident are you in Hugo Boss’ ability to sustain growth in the medium-to-long term?
30.
What’s the risk that we see a brand heat acceleration for a few years for Hugo Boss, but that not being sustained in the long term, beyond 2025?
31.
We have seen a decline in gross margins for Hugo Boss, which were, at one point, 65-66%. What do you think has caused this gradual decline?
32.
Hugo Boss has a 60-62% gross margin target in its Claim 5. How much pressure is there on this level, given the inflation that we’re seeing and the challenging demand environment?
33.
What do you think is a sustainable gross margin profile for Hugo Boss in the mid-term? Does that sit within the 60-62%, or is it slightly higher?
34.
What might be the impact of the online channel on Hugo Boss’ gross margins, given the lower price point?
35.
What do you consider to be the key EBIT improvement opportunities for Hugo Boss?
36.
What is your outlook for EBIT margins in 2022 and in the mid-term, so by 2025?
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