Annual Report 2024

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Consumer Touchpoints

Omnichannel strategy encompasses brick-and-mortar and digital business

Seamless brand experience across all consumer touchpoints

Innovative customer loyalty program HUGO BOSS XP launched in 2024

As a global fashion and lifestyle company, HUGO BOSS has built a strong distribution footprint in recent years with more than 8,000 consumer touchpoints around the globe. By moving to where consumers expect us to be, we ensure being omnipresent both physically and digitally. Fully in line with our premium lifestyle positioning, HUGO BOSS aims to provide a superior shopping experience and a best-in-class omnichannel journey to consumers all around the globe. Our own retail business plays a key role in this context. Offering a brand-led shopping experience and a first-class customer service, it enables us to directly interact with our customers and turn them into true fans of BOSS and HUGO.

Since the introduction of “CLAIM 5” in 2021, HUGO BOSS achieved substantial progress in translating the brand power of BOSS and HUGO into all consumer touchpoints – from brick-and-mortar retail and brick-and-mortar wholesale to our digital touchpoints. With each channel fulfilling specific customer needs, today, we are providing a seamless and consistent omnichannel experience. In doing so, we aim to leverage brand power across all points of sale and thus continuously optimize our distribution network.

Distribution formats

HUGO BOSS omnichannel distribution

... is a promise to our customers worldwide. We deliver the best possible brand experience across all touchpoints to transform our points of sales into true points of experience.

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  • Retail

    • Retail

      Freestanding Stores

      The inside of a Hugo Boss store with a counter and a manequin (photo)
      500
      freestanding stores
      End of 2024

      Our strong retail network ensures customer proximity in all major markets around the globe. It’s all about experiencing our brands first hand and inspiring our customers. In this context, the global roll out of our latest store concepts is in full swing. As they are significantly more emotional, appealing, digital, and productive, they are transforming our stores into true points of experience, unleashing the full potential of retail.

    • Retail

      Shop-in-shops

      The inside of a Hugo Boss store with display shelves with male’s clothing (photo)

      Across the globe, we’re running self-managed shop-in-shops in department stores under the concession model, providing our customers with our outstanding products and service in branded spaces. Customers can browse a curated range of our brands’ latest seasonal highlights, while also shopping for core merchandise to complement their wardrobe.

    • Retail

      Factory Outlets

      The front side of a Hugo Boss store (photo)

      The outlet channel is by far not only a clearance channel but also serves for many customers as a first touchpoint with our brands. The heart of our global outlet network is the factory outlet near our headquarters in Metzingen, Germany. Here, BOSS and HUGO offer their customers a wide selection of seasonal and core merchandise on an area of more than 5,000 sqm.

  • Wholesale

    • Wholesale

      Multi-brand Points of Sale

      The inside of a Hugo Boss store with manequins and display shelves with women’s clothing (photo)

      Department stores are particularly relevant for customers who want to enjoy the variety of brands. To unleash the full potential of our brands also in wholesale, we have positioned both BOSS and HUGO as 24/7 lifestyle brands at our partners. There are multiple opportunities across key department stores – from smart tailoring to casualwear and sportswear. And this is where our various brands lines offer us huge opportunities.

    • Wholesale

      Shop-in-shops

      Display shelf with male’s clothing in front of a black, red and white background (photo)

      Shop-in-shops in department stores managed by our strong partners seamlessly complement our global distribution footprint, with the broad variety of our brands’ 24/7 offering.

    • Wholesale

      Franchise Business

      ~ 400 franchise stores End of 2024

      Franchise stores perfectly complement our global distribution network, whether in markets without own retail presence or in those where we jointly leverage additional opportunities.

  • Digital

    • Digital

      Online Distribution via Partners

      In order to further increase the number of visitors and the relevance of BOSS and HUGO on our partners' websites, we focus on flexibility and scalability. On a partner-by-partner basis, we choose the right form of cooperation. As part of our conventional wholesale model, together with strong partners, we fully leverage the great potential of BOSS and HUGO in the digital sphere.

    • Digital

      Partnerships with online retailers

      At digital marketplaces and multibrand platforms, we serve customers who want to enjoy the variety of brands. By managing distribution independently via the concession model, we create a unique brand experience for our customers, while also leveraging our strong online distribution platform.

    • Digital

      Online Store HUGOBOSS.com

      A male model posing before a sand-colored background; two mock-ups of smartphones showing the Hugo Boss app (photo)
      74
      markets current market presence

      At our digital flagship, customers can discover the full variety of our broad product range. With its numerous features and clear mobile-first approach, hugoboss.com offers our customers a leading e-commerce experience – whether on mobile, desktop or via our HUGO BOSS App.

Brick-and-mortar retail

Our brick-and-mortar retail business represents by far the largest channel for HUGO BOSS, accounting for 52% of Group sales in 2024 (2023: 54%). In total, we are operating 1,532 own brick-and-mortar points of sale (2023: 1,418), with a variety of omnichannel services closely linking brick-and-mortar retail with our digital business. With a strong focus on prime retail destinations, we are operating a total of 500 freestanding stores globally (2023: 489). Our freestanding full-price retail stores allow consumers to experience our brands and products in a superior shopping environment, reflecting the essence of BOSS and HUGO. With their experiential store designs, a brand-led shopping experience, and a strong focus on in-store digitalization, we want our stores to be THE place to be for our customers. To surprise and connect with BOSS and HUGO fans around the globe, in addition, we regularly take over exciting locations with engaging pop-ups and hospitality concepts, such as the BOSS House on Bali, allowing for a physical and digital experience, or our BOSS pop-up store on Mykonos in 2024. In addition, we run self-managed factory outlets, allowing us to introduce our brands to more value-seeking consumers, as well as self-managed shop-in-shops in department stores as part of the concession model. In the past years, we successfully expanded our shop-in-shop business to strengthen our brands’ presence with key retail partners, first and foremost in the U.S. market.

To exploit the full potential of our brick-and-mortar retail business, improving the productivity of our store network is of particular importance. In this context, as part of our “CLAIM 5” strategy, we aim to increase store productivity by at least 3% per year, having achieved an average increase of 7% between 2021 and 2024. This is supported in particular by the ongoing optimization and selective expansion of our global retail footprint across key markets. Additionally, we are continuously enhancing and simplifying the in-store shopping journey for our customers. In this context, we are advancing with the rollout of our more appealing, more digital, and more productive store concepts for BOSS and HUGO, which are aimed at further enhancing the customer experience and developing our stores into true points of experience. Overall, as of December 31, 2024, the majority of our BOSS and HUGO freestanding stores worldwide have been refreshed or equipped with the latest store concepts, including key halo stores in Düsseldorf, London, Dubai, and Shanghai. Halo stores are of great importance, as they provide a superior and comprehensive brand experience in key metropolitan areas that further inspire and engage with consumers. Group Strategy, “Drive Omnichannel”, Earnings Development

Brick-and-mortar wholesale

Our brick-and-mortar wholesale business accounted for 26% of Group sales in 2024 (2023: 25%), thus also representing an important distribution channel for HUGO BOSS. With this channel, we are mainly addressing consumers who prefer to discover and enjoy a variety of brands, while it also enables us to reach out to customers in smaller markets. While department stores and specialist retailers sell BOSS and HUGO products either in separate shop-in-shops or in a multi-brand environment, franchise partners operate mono-branded freestanding stores independently, primarily in emerging markets not served by our own retail business. In total, our wholesale business comprises around 6,500 brick-and-mortar points of sale, including around 400 freestanding stores managed by franchise partners (2023: around 6,400 brick-and-mortar points of sale including around 350 franchise stores). We sell our collections to wholesale partners via 12 showrooms globally. In 2024, HUGO BOSS opened up new showrooms in Düsseldorf and Paris, offering wholesale partners a premium environment. On top of that, we are also leveraging our digital showrooms, offering a seamless and expedited sales process, while simultaneously fostering sustainability and efficiency within wholesale.

As part of “CLAIM 5”, and supported by strong demand from key wholesale partners, both our brands significantly increased visibility and market presence at key European and U.S. department stores in the past three years. Also going forward, with a particular focus on our most important wholesale partners, we aim to fully leverage all BOSS and HUGO brand lines to deliver a true 24/7 brand experience in the multi-brand environment. At the same time, strengthening our global franchise business particularly in emerging markets represents another focus area.

Digital

Our digital touchpoints – from our own online flagship hugoboss.com, to our online concession business, as well as digital wholesale – contributed 20% of Group sales in fiscal year 2024 (2023: 19%). Having achieved strong growth since the introduction of “CLAIM 5”, sales generated in our digital business more than doubled. Our own online flagship hugoboss.com plays a key role in this context, offering a first-class digital shopping experience and direct access to BOSS and HUGO customers across 74 markets (2023: 73 markets). Over the past three years, we significantly increased traffic on our website, driven by the successful relaunch of hugoboss.com, the expansion of our digital presence around the globe, and by establishing our relaunched customer app as one connected touchpoint. The latter includes key features such as virtual product try-ons or AI-enabled chatbots. Also in 2024, we achieved further progress in enhancing the digital experience at hugoboss.com, now fully reflecting our two-brand strategy.

To exploit the full potential of our digital business, we are constantly striving to improve the online journey for our customers. In this context, we aim to further elevate the user experience by pushing mobile, social, and i-commerce. In this context, further driving traffic and conversion at hugoboss.com remains a top priority, mainly by delivering a next-level digital experience with desirable storytelling, localized content, and a personalized customer journey. At the same time, we are committed to further fostering growth with digital partners.

Hugo Boss cubes titled Hugo XP or Boss XP, one framed red with the title “Welcome kit” (photo)

FOCUS on Customer Loyalty

Our loyalty program HUGO BOSS XP reflects our focus on building meaningful, long-lasting relationships with our customers. With its personalized approach, it brings customer engagement to new heights.

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Customer loyalty

HUGO BOSS aims to turn consumers into fans. By putting a strong emphasis on retaining and accompanying our most valuable customers, in 2024 we implemented our next-level loyalty program HUGOBOSS XP. This hyper-personalized omnichannel member experience is centered around our hugoboss.com app. Harnessing the latest technologies, such as blockchain, Web3, or NFTs, HUGO BOSS XP aims to building brand loyalty and set a new industry benchmark for customer engagement. At the same time, by closely engaging with our customers, the program focuses on boosting member sales, thus driving customer lifetime value.

HUGO BOSS XP was first launched in the UK in June 2024, followed by Germany and France in October. With the aim of further deepening and expanding our existing customer relationships, but also attracting new BOSS and HUGO customers, we will continue its global rollout in the coming years, with the important U.S. market as well as China to be tapped into during 2025. In 2024, fueled by the introduction of HUGO BOSS XP, we strongly increased our member base by around 25% to more than ten million (2023: more than eight million).