DUBAI: It was quite the year for the Italian makeup brand KIKO Milano, which just celebrated the fact it has 1000 stores globally with an event in Dubai.
The brand’s choice of destination to celebrate a milestone event speaks to the importance of the Middle East for the label. Arab News talked to Simone Dominici, global CEO of KIKO Milano, about their presence in the region and why Saudi Arabia is one of the brand’s most significant growth drivers for the Middle East and Africa region. “The people in the Middle East, especially Saudi Arabia, love KIKO. So we plan on opening more stores in the Kingdom – going from 25 to 54 stores. We’ve seen a huge attraction from the Saudi customers in our stores — in terms of traffic and all the KPIs that we measure in the stores — that’s why we want to grow here,” says Dominici.
Another potential reason for the demand in the Kingdom is how the brand has successfully tapped into the country’s youth – 36.7 percent of the population is between 15-34 years of age. “We engage the younger population earlier and maybe even better than our competition. In countries like Saudi Arabia, people want to co-create with the brands,” he explained.
Their immediate expansion plans include opening 140 stores in the Middle East and Africa region in just 2023 and launching a direct-to-consumer eCommerce platform.
“We’ll keep growing because we want to make this premium experience that KIKO offers accessible to everyone, which is the key characteristic of KIKO,” he noted. The premium experience he refers to includes a large assortment of high-quality products primarily made in Italy in a vibrant range of colors. This, combined with in-store beauty experts advising customers on which products to select to express their creativity further, has proved to be a winning formula for them.
“We don’t just give a product and disappear — we understand together with you which product fits you better, and we coach you with our knowledge on how to use it. As a result, the clients return because they believe we enrich their lives,” Dominici said.
