Armani China Strategy: Increase Investment And Dig For Gold In E-Commerce

more and more Luxury brands Recall of dealers in China channel Direct stores. Fabrizio Dosi, CEO of Giorgio Armani group in Asia Pacific region, said recently: "until now, we still adopt direct stores and distributors channel Combination mode. In the future, we plan to increase the group's direct investment in the Chinese market while maintaining this business model. "

After last year, Fabrizi group firmly believes that the number of sales in China will continue to grow by 35% every year, and the group will set up more and more important sales points in China.

Armani is good at the diversification of clothing and cosmetics for more than 30 years, and has developed rapidly in the process of diversification of clothing and cosmetics.

Fabio mancone, director of global communications and franchise of Armani group, in an exclusive interview, attributed the success of Armani group to "the way of operating aesthetic philosophy": integrating fashion, classics, and grace The unique Armani style is deeply embedded in every men's wear brand and product line in the group. One of the advantages of Armani is that he has been independent in the short run.

　　 reporter: What is the position of China market in Armani's current global market strategy?

　　 FabioMancone： China's market share has grown strongly over the past three years, although three quarters of our business is in Europe and North America, and another quarter is in the world. But China undoubtedly plays an important role in our future plans and is our preferred investment choice. We plan to open more stores in China to bring Armani brand products to Chinese consumers. We regard the fast-growing Chinese market as the main investment market in our business plan in the future. In the future, we will introduce more products in more fields. Diversification is also what we are good at.

　　 reporter: The Armani you mentioned is very active in many different product fields. It is a diversified luxury single brand, involving in clothing, hotels, home furnishings, candy, flowers and other fields. Do you think Armani management strategy What is the key to success?

　　 FabioMancone： When the passionate aesthetic philosophy is really taken as the way of management, then such a strategy is completely reasonable and reliable. We infiltrate the specific style and spirit represented by Armani into various series of products, whether it is clothing, glasses, watches, jewelry or cosmetics. The key to the success of our strategy is to be able to position and differentiate different series according to the characteristics of each brand, while ensuring that all of them have Armani style.

　　 reporter: At present, Armani is still a family brand, but it has been a trend in recent years for large luxury groups to acquire private enterprises. What causes Armani to choose to remain independent?

　　 FabioMancone： Armani group has been developing independently. It is this independence that makes it free from the pressure from outside investors and obtains its own independent development. Independence means that you can make your own decisions based on the long-term development of the company - investors tend to pursue short-term benefits, so it is difficult to make decisions based on the long-term development of the company. Independence also means being able to act quickly after a decision has been made. In many ways, Mr. Armani still manages our company in the way that he founded the company, putting the needs of customers in the first place, and then the long-term and healthy development of Armani brand.

　　? reporter: Some luxury brands also try e-commerce, but the online sales of global luxury goods account for about 5% of the total trade volume of the industry. Moreover, e-commerce can not provide physical experience, and its popular attributes do not match the unique attributes of luxury goods. Last year, Emporio Armani opened an e-commerce website in China as the first international fashion brand. How do you see the future of e-commerce luxury. Can you give us a brief introduction to Armani China e-commerce website and its achievements so far?

　　 FabioMancone： Over the past few years, we have invested extensively in China, opening more than 40 Emporio Armani boutiques in major cities in China. We believe that launching e-commerce websites in China is a wise step. We all know that China is a vast territory, so it is not easy for consumers to be familiar with our brand. E-commerce website can better serve consumers and let everyone know the brand. E-commerce has become the most important factor in other market areas, so we believe that customers will tend to the complementary consumption mode of store and Internet shopping experience, and continue to grow.

Emporio Armani website is like our flagship store in China. It shows the most beautiful fashion of the brand with perfect interface. So far, the sales on the Internet are considerable, far exceeding our expected sales. We'll also launch a new platform in the fall: armani.com. This is a brand new online sales store, which will cover all products of Armani group.

　　? reporter: In recent years, luxury brands have raised their prices on a large scale. It is normal for luxury brands to adjust their prices according to exchange rate changes and cost factors. Sometimes, the price increases are quite large. Is it also a strategy for luxury brands to maintain their high-end image? What is Armani's own pricing strategy?

　　? Fabrizio?Dosi： Our price is relatively stable. Of course, due to inflation, we will make some changes of about 2% - 3%, which will not exceed this range. Prices vary between the mainland of China and Hong Kong due to different tariffs and tax rates. We think it is not a good policy to keep the price rising all the time. The most important thing is to give customers the best performance price ratio.

　　 reporter: In recent years, consumers in emerging markets, especially in China, have shown strong demand for luxury goods. How do you view and master the psychology of consumers in emerging markets?

　　? Fabrizio?Dosi： There are a large number of luxury consumers in China, and they are in different stages of development. In cities such as Beijing or Shanghai, the customer base is very large and more mature. Out of the appreciation and attraction of luxury goods, they are looking for outstanding design and high-quality products, not out of the need to show off. Of course, there are some other "luxury goods" which are driven by consumers' purchasing power.

Chinese luxury consumers are in the process of rapid development. We see increasing customer demand for our products, so for the future, we think the market will be further expanded. The media are also providing more information to the public. We are confident that people will become more mature, that the importance of "conspicuous factors" will decline, that they will be brave enough to choose and appreciate the goods they buy.

　　? reporter: From the perspective of Armani's 36% growth last year in the Chinese market, how will Armani's revenue increase in China's market?

　　? Fabrizio?Dosi： There will be subtle changes in the global luxury market in the future. For countries around the Asia Pacific region, especially China, we have seen a strong growth in the market. The Chinese market is becoming more and more important. Therefore, we will make a lot of investment in the Chinese market. Armani plans to open 35 new outlets a year, and the number will continue to grow.

　　 reporter: From the development path of other luxury brands, more and more luxury brands withdraw their dealer channels in China and tend to open their own direct stores. Will Armani's sales channels in China be adjusted and changed in the future?

　 　?Fabrizio?Dosi： At present, Armani has 180 sales outlets in China. The company will focus on relatively important projects and decide whether to invest after evaluating the commercial potential of the store. Until now, we still adopt the mode of direct marketing. In the future, although we will maintain this business model, the group will greatly increase its direct investment in the Chinese market.
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