Michael Hill has launched online international shipping ahead of Christmas, as the jewellery retailer capitalises on global demand.
The retailer is also looking to extend its digital platform in Canada, adding dual-language optionally for the first time to capture market share in regions such as Quebec. The last year has seen the company successfully execute on its global marketplace strategy through partnerships with The Iconic in Australia and New Zealand, and The Bay in Canada.
It comes amid broader growth in its international business, with same store sales growth of 8.9% in New Zealand and 11.3% in Canada in FY22. Michael Hill delivered gross margin improvement of 270 basis points, 140 basis points and 360 basis points in these respective geographies.
Speaking with Ragtrader, Michael Hill CMO Jo Feeney said there are major growth plans ahead following a successful brand elevation this year.
"The Michael Hill brand will continue to elevate and evolve, there are many exciting initiatives lined up, new product launches in particular – but more to come in 2023. We have a wonderful heritage of creativity and craft at Michael Hill, we wanted to tap into this and use this as our jumping off point for brand evolution and driving a more modern, sophisticated and aspirational image.
"We are on a path to elevating our brand overall, so it was important to start with what the customer sees. We will continue to develop this, with some extremely exciting changes coming for the brand in 2023."
As well as its newly launched international shipping, Michael Hill also deployed click-and-collect and ship-to-store across all stores globally during FY22. Part of its online arsenal includes its 'Brilliance Members' program, which has over 1.5 million members after growing by 600,000 members last financial year.
"We have a number of new initiatives planned for the new year, including more ways to reward our most loyal customers," Feeney said.
Michael Hill operates 286 stores across three markets in Australia, Canada and New Zealand.