TravTalk India Online Magazine
Sabina Piacenti, International Markets Manager, McArthurGlen Designer Outlets, was in India recently to thank the travel partners and also launch its McArthurGlen Hub – an online platform that will provide new revenue opportunities to the trade.
Harshal Ashar
Woven into the vibrant tapestry of the fashion industry, McArthurGlen has become a haven for the style-conscious shopper. With a rich heritage dating back to 1993, when it was founded by Kaempfer Partners, McArthurGlen has transformed the designer outlet shopping experience. The opening of Europe’s first outlet, Cheshire Oaks, in the UK, marked the beginning of an extensive network that now spans 24 designer outlets across eight countries.
Sabina Piacenti, International Markets Manager, McArthurGlen Designer Outlets, was in Mumbai recently for its annual awards it presents to the top-performing travel partners. “Our annual Achievement Awards aims to thank our main travel partners who have supported us throughout the year. We will discuss and develop our strategy for 2025 with them which will continue to focus on leisure and MICE groups. However, for next year, we also want to look at attracting high-end customers from India and will, therefore, tap some of the key luxury travel agencies that offer bespoke programmes,”
she reveals.
She also had an interesting announcement for the trade – the launch of the McArthurGlen Hub – a technologically driven platform that will allow partners to book shuttle bus tickets to reach its centres, as well as add packages for shopping at net rates. “In this way, we aim to promote not only our centres but also to provide revenue opportunities to our travel partners. I believe, this will be a game-changer in our strategy,” Piacenti says.
India performs remarkably
India scored well with another year of tremendous growth, she says, so much so that McArthurGlen is now forecasting an incremental growth of 15 per cent in tax-free spend. “Volumes are rising not only for the high-end customers but for groups of leisure and MICE as well. Among all our centres, I would say Serravalle near Milan remains one of the favourites of the India market, but we see some surge in popularity for other centres like Designer Outlet Parndorf, located near Vienna, Venice, and even Rome, which has become extremely popular. Our newly-added centre Paris-Giverny in the west-north of Paris is also growing with patronage from the Indian customers and I think they are really appreciating this new centre. I believe, we witnessed an increase of the average ticket value this year and this is mostly from the high-end customers. I also must add that the lowering of the tax-free sale threshold in Italy brought great attention from the Indian customers for the
premium and mainstream brands,” Piacenti adds.
Retail events a huge attraction
McArthurGlen has always been popular for its retail events. It will now have its amazing Black Friday event with incredible discounts up to 70 per cent across its brands. “This will be followed by the beautiful installation of Christmas with amazing Christmas trees with the lovely Christmas atmosphere. In December and January, there will be winter sales that nobody should skip. We have been in the Indian market for the last three years, want to stay here and keep on investing because we recognise its huge potential,” she adds. For this, McArthurGlen has a strategy that will continue to focus mainly on the travel trade, along with digital marketing. She adds, “Our team on the ground will start addressing the trade for planning the itineraries for 2025.”
McArthurGlen conducted several Fam tours this year with partners from India, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, UAE, and Turkey to its centres in Milan, Rome, Venice, Vienna, Salzburg, Paris, Malaga and Roermond.
