PETALING JAYA: Skechers Malaysia’s retail sales surged towards the end of 2023, likely driven by a weakened ringgit against the US dollar, which spurred tourist spending in December.
Skechers Southeast Asia managing director Zann Lee told SunBiz that, according to its internal statistics, December recorded double-digit growth compared with the same period last year. The Klang Valley was the top performer in terms of sales.
She noted that Malaysia experienced a heavy influx of tourists in the final month of 2023. Consequently, Lee opined that the surge in sales was due to the weak ringgit against the greenback, which encouraged foreign tourists to make more purchases.
She said the softer ringgit translates to more value for money, which persuades tourists to spend more than they initially intended.
Lee said the lifestyle footwear and apparel company’s existing retail sales performance is already strong, supported by local consumption. At the same time, increased spending by tourists has provided higher revenue for the company.
Despite the weaker ringgit, she shared that it has no plans to increase its product prices for now. It last implemented price increases in 2022.
“Even with a weakened Malaysian currency, we try to maintain our retail prices. We did not increase the retail prices (recently) as compared to other brands,” Lee said, adding that other brands have increased retail prices between 20% and 30%.
On the company’s target for Malaysia this year, she said it aims to expand its retail footprint across the country, including tier-B cities with population ranging between 100,000 and 200,000.
“In Peninsular Malaysia, you have areas such as Bentong, Kemaman and Seri Manjung which have smaller populations. We are already in key shopping malls in most cities, the only city which we are not in is Kamdar, Perlis. That means that in every state, we have a presence in the capital.
As for Sabah and Sarawak, it is looking into expanding to areas such as Sandakan and Kota Samarahan.
Touching on sales target for 2024, Lee said Skechers aims to achieve double-digit growth, driven by both its offline and online platforms.
“We experienced double-digit growth in 2023 compared to 2022. Since 2019, (due to closure during Covid-19 pandemic) ... once we reopened, we registered double-digit year-on-year growth.
Currently, its retail stores contribute about 80% to sales revenue, while the rest is from online sales.
“(Moving forward, in terms of ratio), it will still continue probably may be move by another 5% to online sales, 75% retail and 25% online,” Lee remarked.
She is optimistic that the company will achieve a better performance this year compared with the prior year and will be more aggressive with its sales strategy. “I believe the whole retail industry’s sentiment is still going to be dynamic,” she said.
In January, the company launched its first experience centre in Malaysia at The Exchange TRX, Kuala Lumpur.
