"GCC Customers Are Demanding Because They Have a Very High Knowledge of Luxury," Says Mytheresa CEO Michael Kliger With the luxury e-commerce sector consolidating over the past few years, which has seen the demise of some of its competitors, Mytheresa is now positioning itself as a major player in the sector.
By Tamara Pupic
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"For Mytheresa, the GCC is very dynamic region with very demanding customers," says Michael Kliger, CEO of the luxury e-commerce platform Mytheresa, in an interview with Entrepreneur Middle East. "Because the customer that we serve here knows how it should be, because they are often in Paris or London, and they have a very high knowledge of luxury service and they expect that."
"People in this region are quite affluent, and they have always shopped luxury, but what is interesting is that, due to all the developments in the Gulf states, they are now spending more time within their region, and therefore we now have more business here, locally, whereas in the past people from here mostly shopped outside of the country, when they were in Paris or London."
Having started as a standalone multi-brand boutique in Munich in 1987, Mytheresa shifted online in 2006, and has since grown to become a global player in the luxury e-commerce sector.
Since being appointed as the Mytheresa CEO in 2015, after the acquisition of Mytheresa by the American department store chain Neiman Marcus Group, Kliger has managed to scale its business while maintaining operating profitability. The platform's key strategy has been to offer sharply curated selection of the most in-demand pieces to the most affluent and frequent purchasers.
He led Mytheresa through a successful IPO on the New York Stock Exchange in 2021.
With the luxury e-commerce sector consolidating over the past few years, which has seen the demise of some of its competitors, Mytheresa is now positioning itself as a major player in the sector.
"The digital luxury market will continue to grow, and the reason for that is because it serves a genuine need- more and more people don't have the time and don't want to invest the time to shop," Kliger says. "When they go to New York, they like to go to stores, but in their daily routine, digital has become a real need, and therefore, I am very bullish on online luxury."
