Mobile phone case concept Kase is set to expand its travel retail presence after the early success of its first airport store in the Philippines.
Kase opened a store in Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport in February in partnership with Regent Distributors. It features a broad range of cases for smartphones and tablets – a high margin retail business which has already proven popular in non-travel locations in 150 markets including Singapore, Hong Kong, India, the US, Germany and France.
The company says its first airport store, just 33sqm, is achieving sales at levels “totally beyond all expectations”.
A key point of difference making Kase so popular is the customisation available in-store. Shoppers can take their phones in, and using an iPad choose from thousands of different designs and modify them to suit their personal preferences before having the case printed within eight minutes in-store. They can even provide their own designs – uploadable via the store’s WiFi.
Kase believes the concept is ideal for travel retail, requiring space as small as 15 sqm in a shop-in-shop, 22 sqm for a pop up shop or between 30 sqm and 60 sqm for a standalone boutique.
Says Kase cofounder Steve Rosenblum: “The Kase offers travel-retail a tremendous opportunity to capitalise on a market in constant expansion. It’s estimated that in 2016 1 billion smartphones and 400 million tablets will be sold – double the number of 2012. In addition, the market for accessories is growing equally rapidly, up 80 per cent in 2012 and expected to show 120 per cent growth next year, representing a massive US$50 billion. Increasingly, covers for these items are being considered a fashion accessory in their own right.”
Rosenblum says Kase has signed up a master franchisee in Indonesia and others in South Africa, Middle East and Europe.
