Esprit. She was also president of luxury womenswear brand Lafayette 148 New York. Inside Retail: Customer experience is crucial in the retail industry. How does Kate Spade New York prioritize customer satisfaction, both online and in-store? Liz Fraser: We are an emotional brand, building emotional connections with our customers. There are many ways we approach this effort, and customer experience is such a crucial one, which we consider in many ways. Our sales associates bring the magic of our brand to life and build personal relationships with our customers. We’ve had customers shopping while on vacation in another city, who continue to shop with that sales associate from afar after returning home. We’ve had guests host engagement parties in stores. When stores closed during the pandemic, we had customers reaching out to their sales associates just to check in on them. To support our sales teams, we provide ongoing training on how best to interact with our customers. We continue to increase the use of our clienteling platform to connect our customers with our stylists, spur repeat purchases and help deliver a more personalized experience. We pulse post-purchase surveys to our customers both online and in-store and conduct focus groups, shop-alongs, and customer intercepts to understand and stay close to our customers. IR: The retail landscape has evolved, especially with the rise of e-commerce. How does Kate Spade New York navigate the challenges of brick-and-mortar retail while also expanding its digital footprint? LF: We believe the best experiences are omni, designed to consider the range of touchpoints in the customer journey, often including both digital and in-person. This is how consumers are evolving and we want to meet them where they are and we strive to make the shopping experience as cohesive as possible. Consumers research online before purchasing in-store, so in addition to training our in-store team, we have focused on enhancing our product detail pages to provide the customer with as much information about the product as possible. We highlight the voice of the customer in the digital experience through ratings and reviews, as customer feedback is incorporated throughout our site and in marketing assets. We integrate the magic of our sales associates into the digital ecosystem through our sales associates’ Key Opinion Leader (KOL) program, in which associates create social content highlighting products they are most inspired by and excited about. The power of TikTok for product discovery is incredible. IR: How does Kate Spade New York leverage social media and digital marketing to connect with its audience?  LF: We develop distinct strategies for each platform and create stories most relevant for the audience and medium. Through testing and targeting, we gain insight as to which products are best suited for audience cohorts. Social listening also helps us identify trends and react to social trends quickly. We also stay very close to what our audience is asking to see on social media and try to create content quickly that answers them. This is especially true on TikTok. Fans will ask about a certain bag or collection and we’ll create a video reply within days (sometimes hours). In addition, we work with a range of creators. We look at each partnership as a true collaboration, working together on concepts and thinking outside of the typical fashion-focused influence. For Spring, for example, we wanted to partner with creators who are also givers of joy and help to evoke that feeling we’re conveying in the Spring campaign. Partners included a baker, a florist, a singer and more. IR: Does the brand identity and retail strategy differ in the US market compared to global markets, such as Australia? LF: Kate Spade New York has such a clear DNA and perspective, and joy has always been central to it. Anchored in joy, our brand is unique, yet universal. We all know and have felt that spark of joy in moments big and small. This brand identity is so inherent to us and is consistent in how we show up across the globe. Our mix of distribution channels in the US and Australian markets is similar, including a network of specialty and outlet stores, a strong e-commerce presence, and wholesale business. The key differences in these markets for us lie in their respective maturity. While Kate Spade New York started in New York just over 30 years ago, the brand is a lot younger in Australia and presents us with a lot of opportunity for growth, particularly around market share and brand awareness. IR: Can you share any insight regarding Kate Spade New York’s growth in the US, ANZ and Asian markets – or globally – since entering the market? LF: Kate Spade New York started as a dream, with a wonderfully determined vision. Kate Brosnahan Spade made the first samples for her ideal handbag out of construction paper. The brand launched in 1993 with six versions of a bag called Sam. Today, we are a truly global lifestyle brand, with everything from handbags, jewelry, footwear and ready-to-wear, to perfume, stationery, and tea kettles. Handbags are still our bread and butter. We’re constantly innovating with new styles and executions, from core to seasonal fashion items. Starting in New York, the US is by far our largest market, followed by Japan. Globally, we have nearly 400 stores, of which almost half are in the US. We see so much potential to grow further in the Apac region and invest in it by opening and renovating stores as well as marketing initiatives. When we began to roll out our new uptown/downtown store concept last year, China was among the first locations, and we continue to grow the brand there. Southeast Asia and ANZ are younger markets for us and we have so much runway ahead. This story first appeared in the May 2024 issue of Inside Retail Australia magazine.