Survival Crisis Behind Luxuries

"Traveling to Iceland in winter, you will find fish and cheap goods" become the advertising words of recent Iceland tourism. The "bargains" included seventy percent off LV on the shelves.

The situation in Hongkong is even more exciting. "It's not just waiting to spend money. It's like waiting for a generous government relief." Huang Jianxiang describes the long queue of people who bought famous brands in the streets of Hongkong at the beginning of the year, while the background is the super discount offered by luxury brands.

In Shanghai, a mall has made many luxury brand sales in just a few months. Many brands such as Burburry, Gucci and CK are coming.

As long as there is news of discount sales, some of the big fans will still be in the market. No doubt that people enjoy the luxury discount when they enjoy the discount of the house and car in this financial turmoil.

In the pricing of luxury goods, price is one of the key elements of its positioning consumers. This leads to a paradox in reality: assuming that a low price can also buy the same product, it will not feel like "luxury".

Fewer parties, fewer outdoors...

According to the judgment of assistant professor of marketing department of Fudan University management school, Pokorny, director of luxury and brand management expert, Lu Xiao, Fudan Italy (Bocconi) fashion designer and luxury brand management project, although every round of business cycle will trigger a crisis of luxury brand survival, they do not regard "price reduction" as an option in the face of crisis, that is to say, "even if they are decently", they can never achieve the naked streak of price, because that is the way to stop themselves.

He explained that although the discount sale information of luxury goods is distributed all over the world, the current discount strategy is more related to the clearance of inventory rather than the low price strategy.

　　奢侈品定價的“心理游戲”

An American in a blog describes: whenever a friend comes to Losangeles, he will take them to Rodeo Drive (where all the luxury brands come together) - very few people will really spend money there, but someone will go in curiously and wonder why a Versace jacket can sell for such a high price of 3000 dollars.

Pricing is unique enough to increase the mystery of luxury brands to ordinary people.

For the first time in Schwarz's Boyds menswear store in Philadelphia, the first impression was that the price of a $3000 Brioni on the shelf (a supplier supplied to the upper class of the Kennedy family and other American upper class) was "really ridiculous".

"It is wrong to assume that a consumer wants to decipher the price of luxury goods from the consumer product itself."

Wolfgang Latzler once pointed out in the book "luxury brings prosperity": luxury goods manufacturers will try their best to maintain low cost and avoid waste, but the question of cost is generally second.

　　“天價”定價法

According to the prevailing "price fixing method", product price = manufacturing cost + R & D cost + marketing expenses + sales expenses + management fees + exchange gains and losses + reasonable profit + brand premium.

"But this price method is obviously not applicable to luxury brands. Every company and every family business has its own completely different pricing laws, and it is secret.

As an illustration, GUCCI's famous saying is "make a product scarce, and you can sell it at a high price".

So, these astronomical labels eventually give consumers a kind of inexplicable psychological satisfaction, and ultimately make the suit that sells for 3000 dollars is a Barry Schwarz at a high price. At the same time, it can not help but float up its own acceptable psychological price. Finally, he chooses a suit that sells for "$800" and goes out.

　　假設沒有令人憂心的金融危機，或許對于奢侈品牌高價策略的質疑會略少一些。但是大眾消費品的價格下浮，人們不免聯想到是否奢侈品牌也應當在價格中作出調整。但是盧曉認為這些質疑都是不切實際的，因為從價格而言，奢侈品牌并沒有過多“現原形”的空間。其實即使是之前人為制造“稀缺”景象的YSL，也不過在一年之內將利潤從5.6%提升到8%，所以盧曉認為高的價格定位并未給奢侈品牌帶來大眾想象中的“暴利”。

"In the 80s of last century, many people imagined that family businesses that were running luxury brands were enjoying huge profits. So investment banks bought luxury goods companies, but they soon discovered that the cost of luxury goods was high, risky, high technology and complicated management skills.

　　光鮮背后的生存危機

"Until now, we have not seen any structural problems in the pricing of luxury goods. Moreover, even in the face of the international financial crisis, these luxury brands do not exist in the" prototype "price space.

　　在國際范圍內今年這些外表光鮮的時尚品牌已經在不可避免地經歷寒冬。2008年10月初貝恩咨詢公司宣布，10年的穩步發展之后，全球奢侈品銷售到2009年下滑比例會達到7％。而根據瑞士制表業聯合會發布的最新數據，高端手表的銷售在2009年應會得以繼續，但這一年的增長不會超過5％，相比之下，2008年的增長率達到10％，2007年甚至高達16％。

At the same time, Cartire, Wanguo and other famous watch brand owners have also warned of the uncertainty of the prospect. Its CEO Johann Rupert said that the sales growth in 2008 October slowed down to 1.6%, while sales in the US and Japan dropped by 2% and 7% respectively.

"You will see that the storefront in Hang Lung Plaza is constantly in the decoration state because of the continuous withdrawal of brands and the re entry of new brands.

On the one hand, the cost of imported luxury goods remains high, while the assets of the buying group are shrinking due to the financial crisis.

　　“所以你會看到有奢侈品牌通過過季產品特賣的形式來清空存貨，往往是通過自身所積累的VIP客戶先挑選購買一批，再特賣一批，基本上可以銷售殆盡。但是若始終沒有銷量，他們也會撤出市場。”盧曉說。但這并不代表他們會將整體的定價調低，在盧曉看來，那無異于自掘墳墓。“這樣的例子不勝枚舉——曾經屬于一線大牌的皮爾·卡丹之前因為自身經營的問題不斷地降價，現在，喜好奢侈品的人還會買他們的產品么？”他說。