Hugo Boss said on Thursday that improving its online business will be a top priority this year as the struggling German fashion house hopes to avoid another decline in sales and cement a recovery in China. The company known for its smart men's suits is in the midst of restructuring under new boss Mark Langer after his predecessor Claus-Dietrich Lahrs quit last February as sales slumped in China and the United States.
Hugo Boss said it expected currency-adjusted sales to be stable in 2017 after it reported a 4 percent fall in 2016 to 2.69 billion euros ($2.8bn), with online sales down 9 percent to 76 million euros, less than 3 percent of the total.
Analysts expect online transactions to represent 20 percent of all luxury sales within a decade, up from 7-8 percent now.
The company plans to roll out services like "click and collect" to stores across Europe by the end of 2017.