Sparkling future beckons fashion jewelry

A Swarovski store in Beijing draws shoppers, Oct 6, 2012.[Photo/VCG]

The retailer, which had a retail network of 72 stores in 2015, plans to open 30 additional stores this year, concentrating on opening full-size commercial venues and further expanding into second-tier cities.

This year, the company will open stores in smaller cities like Chengdu, Dalian, Chongqing, Nanjing and Tianjin.

"We were very surprised by the strong demand from smaller cities and we realized we can be very successful in some of these second-tier cities," added Madsen.

Pandora, which defines itself as an accessible luxury, produces hand-finished silver jewelry pieces at competitive prices, with a focus on beads and charms with different motives to personalize the pieces.

Although Pandora does not disclose figures for individual markets, it notes that the Asia Pacific region accounted for 16 percent of the company's total revenue last year, a figure significantly higher than in 2014.

"Asia Pacific, with China being the largest market in this region, is taking a bigger and bigger share of Pandora," said Madsen. "This region is an absolute priority for us."

In 2015, Pandora recorded global annual revenues of 16.7 billion yuan. For this year, Pandora expects to reach revenues of 19 billion yuan, with the Asia Pacific region driving growth and taking a large share of the company's turnover.

The company is now examining options to team up with online stores to increase its sales in the country.

"We do not have an e-commerce platform at this point, but it is certainly a big, if not the largest, priority for us right now," added Madsen.