Chanel, Dior, YSL, Loewe all strong for The Fragrance Shop at Christmas

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Jan 4, 2017

Chanel, Dior, Hugo Boss. Loewe, YSL and other designer brands were key for The Fragrance Shop at Christmas as the UK scent retailer reported a strong festive trading period.

The company said that in the six weeks to December 31, its comparable sales rose 6.8% and it sold 80,000 bottles of fragrance on December 23, its busiest day of the season. It also saw faster growth in men’s products than women’s as the category benefitted from more launch activity.

Its top sellers included Dior Sauvage, Chanel Coco Mademoiselle, Hugo Boss - The Scent For Her and Diesel BAD. The YSL, Viktor & Rolf and Loewe brands were also strong sellers, the latter having been given a boost by its first Jonathan Anderson-driven launch last autumn.

CEO Sanjay Vadera said luxury brands were a key attraction for UK consumers but that they went for "new, accessibly-priced perfumes.”

With price to the fore, he said shoppers also focused on value and traded up to larger sizes in order to maximise value other than spending less on small sizes. That meant strong growth in gift sets that contain added value items, as well as in sizes of 100ml or more.

Vadera also said luxury brands are the fastest-growing segment for the business and that the company is currently outperforming the market in this area.

Last month The Fragrance Shop opened in the heart of department store territory with a store on Oxford Street, London, taking its UK total to 183. It plans to have 200 open by the end of this year.