As we anticipated at the start of the holiday season, the global retail environment remain volatile, due to the pandemic and other macro factors.
Asia, which we view in many ways as a blueprint for our progress in other markets grew 14% to last year.
This was driven by continued momentum in the Chinese Mainland, with more than 40% reported growth.
We also continue to invest in targeted new store expansion in key growth markets with 23 new stores this quarter, primarily in Asia.
In the third quarter, we continue to ramp up our personalization initiatives, shift our brand building efforts increasingly toward digital and leverage the authentic values that have been central to our brand since Ralph started this company more than 50 years ago.
These included our groundbreaking virtual flagship store experiences in Beverly Hills, New York and Paris, where consumers around the world can experience our brands and the full breadth of our assortment, in a way that was previously only possible by walking into one of our beautiful stores, amplifying and reach of our flagships to a global audience, digital traffic in these virtual stores was 8 times greater than the foot traffic in these physical stores over the same period.
And in Asia, we were excited to launch our live stream selling event with 360 degree activation for Singles' Day.
Delivering more than 120 million impressions.
Notably, our brand awareness and purchase intent has accelerated since the start of the pandemic and we are seeing particularly strong growth from consumers under 35 and women.
In our total social media followers, reached 45 million in the quarter.
Since the launch last August, over 20 million users has addressed our Bitmoji and Ralph Lauren and tried on the collection over 550 million times.
Fiscal' 21 continues to be a transformational year, as we digitize our consumer platform and experiences and how we work as a company.
We delivered lifestyle content tailored to next generation consumers, reaching over 15 million impressions globally, including the first ever editorial experience, within the Farfetch app.
Today, we announced the next stage of our plan, which is focused on realigning and driving increased efficiencies across our global real estate footprint.
In the third quarter, we were proud to score 100% on the Human Rights Campaign foundations Corporate Equality Index and earn the designation as a best place to work for LGBTQ Equality.
This stage focuses on realigning our real-estate footprint to our future strategic priorities.
This includes first reducing our North America corporate office footprint up to 30%, along with selected reductions in Europe and Asia.
Second closing up to 10 retail locations globally.
Combined, these actions are expected to result in growth annualized pre-tax expense savings of approximately $200 million to $240 million.
While we still expect the majority of the original $180 million to $200 million in organizational savings to flow through to the bottom line, we expect to reinvest the majority of our savings related to today's actions in our future growth.
Third quarter revenues declined18% following a 30% decline in the second quarter, Asia and North America both improved sequentially, while Europe was more significantly impacted by COVID and mandated closures and restrictions in the quarter.
Global Wholesale revenue declined 19% and direct to consumer revenues were down 16%.
Our digital business outperformed with sales up more than 20% to last year, including double-digit growth in all regions and even more importantly, our digital operating margins continued to expand, with Q3 digital margins up 900 basis points to last year and accretive to our total company rates to a combination of higher quality of sales and operating expense leverage.
Total company adjusted gross margin was 65.4% in the third quarter, up 320 basis points to last year.
Around 60 basis points of this quarter's gross margin expansion was driven by unusual mix shifts due to COVID.
Third quarter AUR growth of 19% was above our expectations with North America and Europe up double-digits and Asia up high-single digits.
Operating expenses declined 11% to last year, driven by reductions in compensation, rent and other expenses, as we continue to work in new ways.
Adjusted operating margin for the third quarter was 13.3%, down 70 basis points to last year.
Marketing in the third quarter decreased 3%.
We expect fourth quarter marketing to increase about 50% to support our long-term brand-building activities and key events like Lunar New Year and the Australian Open.
Moving on to segment performance, starting with North America.
Revenue decreased 21% to last year.
Retail comps declined 21% driven by a 30% decline in bricks-and-mortar comps.
While our own digital comps improve sequentially to 9%.
Brick-and-mortar comps continued to be impacted by COVID related traffic declines with third quarter traffic down 45% and foreign tourists sales down about 85%.
However, we continued to drive our strategy of improving quality of sales with our third quarter discount rate down nearly 400 basis points.
AUR mid-teens and conversion up more than 200 basis points in our brick-and-mortar channel.
Our digital commerce comps were up 9% with total digital sales up 10% in the quarter.
We reduced our site wide promotions by 52 days compared to the prior year as we continue to elevate our digital experience driving AURs up 22% and gross margins up more than 800 basis points to last year in the channel.
While these deliberate reductions in promotional activity are a headwind to our digital comps in fiscal 2001.
Our accelerated investment in digital marketing generated a 27% increase in new customers during this competitive holiday quarter, exceeding our expectations.
Year-to-date, these new consumers are transacting at a higher gross margin rates and larger basket sizes and represent a higher penetration of consumers under 35.
All of these initiatives helped deliver a significant increase in our full price sales this quarter, which grew more than a 130% to last year.
In North America wholesale, third quarter revenue declined 22% as we continue to manage our shipments carefully and realigned inventories to demand.
Our inventories in the marketplace were clean and well positioned at the end of the third quarter, declining more than 30% at North America wholesale.
Third quarter revenue declined 28% on a reported basis and 30% in constant currency.
Europe retail comps were down 38% with a 51% decline in our bricks-and-mortar store comps, partly offset by an acceleration in our own digital commerce up 68%.
Across Europe, our bricks-and-mortar businesses were significantly impacted by traffic headwinds with some form of store closures or restrictions across 16 of our 17 markets in the region, ranging from curfews and closures to full lockdown.
Despite these pressures our conversion improved and AUR increased 12% to last year, driven by our ongoing strategy to elevate our factory channel strong momentum in our own digital commerce comp was driven by our new consumer acquisition, up 112% along with its banded Connected Retail initiatives gifting programs and improved digital content.
Europe wholesale revenues declined 22% in constant currency as we continue to limit shipments to reset our inventories to demand.
Revenue increased 14% on a reported basis and 9% in constant currency, our Asian retail comps increased 3% with bricks-and-mortar stores up 1% and digital comps up 54%.
We are encouraged that growth in the Chinese Mainland is not only back to pre-COVID levels of more than 40% on a reported basis, but growing versus double LY.
We ended the third quarter with $2.8 billion in cash and investments and $1.6 billion total debt, which compares to $1.9 billion in cash and investments and $694 million in total debt at the end of last year's third quarter.
While we have managed our balance sheet carefully, since the start of the pandemic to preserve liquidity, `we are monitoring COVID conditions closely and based on our current outlook, we are planning to reinstate our dividend in the first half of fiscal ' 22 Net inventory declined 4% to last year, including a 2% decline in North America, 15% decline in Europe and a 7% increase in Asia, to support growth.
We currently expect fourth quarter revenues to decline approximately mid-to-high single-digits, representing a meaningful sequential improvement from the first three quarters of the year.

Summary:
As we anticipated at the start of the holiday season, the global retail environment remain volatile, due to the pandemic and other macro factors.
Since the launch last August, over 20 million users has addressed our Bitmoji and Ralph Lauren and tried on the collection over 550 million times.
Today, we announced the next stage of our plan, which is focused on realigning and driving increased efficiencies across our global real estate footprint.
This stage focuses on realigning our real-estate footprint to our future strategic priorities.
Second closing up to 10 retail locations globally.
Combined, these actions are expected to result in growth annualized pre-tax expense savings of approximately $200 million to $240 million.
Global Wholesale revenue declined 19% and direct to consumer revenues were down 16%.
Our digital business outperformed with sales up more than 20% to last year, including double-digit growth in all regions and even more importantly, our digital operating margins continued to expand, with Q3 digital margins up 900 basis points to last year and accretive to our total company rates to a combination of higher quality of sales and operating expense leverage.
Third quarter AUR growth of 19% was above our expectations with North America and Europe up double-digits and Asia up high-single digits.
Moving on to segment performance, starting with North America.
Revenue decreased 21% to last year.
Our digital commerce comps were up 9% with total digital sales up 10% in the quarter.
We reduced our site wide promotions by 52 days compared to the prior year as we continue to elevate our digital experience driving AURs up 22% and gross margins up more than 800 basis points to last year in the channel.
In North America wholesale, third quarter revenue declined 22% as we continue to manage our shipments carefully and realigned inventories to demand.
Third quarter revenue declined 28% on a reported basis and 30% in constant currency.
Europe wholesale revenues declined 22% in constant currency as we continue to limit shipments to reset our inventories to demand.
Revenue increased 14% on a reported basis and 9% in constant currency, our Asian retail comps increased 3% with bricks-and-mortar stores up 1% and digital comps up 54%.
While we have managed our balance sheet carefully, since the start of the pandemic to preserve liquidity, `we are monitoring COVID conditions closely and based on our current outlook, we are planning to reinstate our dividend in the first half of fiscal ' 22 Net inventory declined 4% to last year, including a 2% decline in North America, 15% decline in Europe and a 7% increase in Asia, to support growth.
We currently expect fourth quarter revenues to decline approximately mid-to-high single-digits, representing a meaningful sequential improvement from the first three quarters of the year.