Can Chanel Become The Pioneer Of Luxury Change?

Just this past weekend, Chanel, who once said that "no business is dead," officially landed on Tmall and entered a low-key way in the form of pre-sale, which has accumulated tens of thousands of fans in just one weekend.

According to the analysis, it seems that a simple move in is actually causing a storm of change in heavy luxury brands. Can Chanel become the pioneer of luxury change?

Even though Burberry, LVMH, TODS and Hermes are opening up shop in Tmall, there is still no brand to shoulder Chanel's step. Chanel, with its long tradition and legendary history, is more concerned than more luxury goods. For a long time, Chanel has embraced the spirit of "popularity and perishable style", adhering to the spirit of being loyal to ourselves and pursuing independence, adhering to the conservative brand style and management strategy. But this kind of conservatism often appears to be somewhat "stubborn". Chanel's top executives have made a very direct statement: the best experience of Chanel is in the boutique. We are not sure whether consumers can fully understand us through the cold electronic screen.

　　 A shallow and deep digital journey

Like many high-end luxury brands, Chanel's concerns focus on brand value, consumer experience and efficiency of touch users. In the irreversible wave of youth market and digitalization, this anxiety has constantly stimulated the self torture and self transformation of luxury brands. Even with the slower action of Chanel, the change has also been opened: throughout its recent online actions, its digital transformation process has leaped over shallow waters and is gradually exploring and diving into deepwater areas.

In 2015, Chanel cooperated with the Net-a-Porter platform for the first time to test water and electricity providers, and sold its jewellery series Coco Crush online. In 2016, Chanel began selling perfume products in WeChat; in 2017, Chanel invested in Farfetch and sold electricity with its cooperative glasses series products; in 2018, on the line of Chanel China's official website, consumers could browse and purchase their products such as clothing, jewelry, make-up, watches, perfume and so on online.

"Our goal is to work with people we love, and Chanel will not enter an era of seeking cooperation everywhere." Speaking of brand cooperation, Chanel brand President Bruno Pavlovsky has always been cautious in public speaking. In recent years, he has begun to leave more room in his speeches. It is not difficult to read his standard at the moment: whether to do business or not is not the problem for Chanel, and who to cooperate with and how to do it is the focus of immediate consideration.

Chanel's "electric shock" obviously went through meticulous rational calculation and complex emotional examination.

Choosing Tmall and opening only the official flagship store on Tmall is probably the result of the existence of a former master of Buddha's love for cats. It also supports Chanel's fastidious and endorsement on the side. In China, an electronic business platform has been able to form a boost to this century's classic brand rather than reduce it.

This caution is also reflected in the flagship store on the line, Chanel positioned itself as perfume and beauty products, but at the same time, it is also the category that currently creates the most revenue for Chanel. At present, the clothing and leather products are not yet on the line. On the one hand, the public acceptance of perfume and beauty products is taken into consideration. On the other hand, there is room for the future of this change.

However, taking the lead in "perfume and beauty products" does not mean that Chanel is determined to be limited. According to Chanel's latest public performance data, this category contributed about 9 billion 800 million euros in revenue in 2018, an increase of 50%, occupying Chanel's annual total sales of 1/3, and its Asia Pacific market thus surpassed Europe as the world's largest market.

Chanel's All-in is actually its cash cow.

　　 Why luxury goods are collective

Chanel's entry into Tmall's gravitational field is, on the surface, the "gathering effect" of luxury circles. As these brands always appear in the high-end shopping malls such as Xinguang, IFC, IAPM, and now meet the same online platform, the real reason behind it is the digital maturity of the Chinese e-commerce platform represented by Tmall, which has been able to create a highly matched "field" for these luxury brands.

The huge flow and the huge scale of young consumers are only the shallow features of the "gravitational field".

Tmall, which has nearly 700 million months of live users and young consumers accounts for 8, has been comparable to a whole Europe. According to the consumer insight report released by Tmall luxury platform Luxury Pavilion, among these luxury users, the proportion of young people in the new generation after 90 is nearly 50%, and 45% of luxury goods have been sold. This is a portraiture of every luxury brand.

What is more difficult for luxury goods to resist is that the "gravitational field" is not just a platform with huge potential users, but a digital connector. This is equivalent to facing a whole Europe. It not only accurately helps you find customers, but also allows you to accurately judge the business needs and short board operation, and customize the customers who serve the brand based on the platform data tools.

While increasing the precise touch of target customers, it does not hurt the core value of luxury goods - services, which makes Tmall truly understand the pain of luxury brands to the electricity supplier, and even surpass the energy of these brands' own official websites. As a result, the gravitational field has become the inevitable path for the digital transformation of luxury goods, and has become a weathervane for the outside world to observe the process of a brand digitalization.

From Chanel's flagship store, we can see the dedication to services: the design of shop and product details page is not only Chanel classic, but also through video presentation, with special emphasis on exquisite product packaging, careful beauty consultants and free logistics services. Carefully studying the pre-sale goods, consumers can find that they include the lipstick, eyeshadow, and details that are often sold on line.

It can be imagined that after the official operation of Chanel Tmall flagship store, combined with Tmall's trial dressing mirror, virtual flash shop, exclusive customized platform Luxury Pavilion and other global technology solutions, Chanel's digital transformation will not only reduce the quality of service, but can bring new surprises to consumers.

What the French luxury brand is best at is interacting with consumers outside the product. The classic quotation became the footnote of Chanel at this moment.

　　 The eve of comprehensive digital luxury

Technology has changed the world, even if the long history of luxury goods industry is no exception. Of course, Chanel women must embrace these things with their hands, and always walk ahead of the times -- the classic quotations of Carle, the old Buddha, became the footnote of Chanel at this moment.

Just like every season's big show leads the fashion trend, Chanel, which has a strong influence, is caught in Tmall's "turbine", which means that it is optimistic about the new storm brought by digital deep water area. This will also attract a large number of different levels of luxury brands.

The annual report on luxury digital marketing forecasts released by McKinsey predicts that the market share of luxury electronic business will double to 12% in 2020 and reach 18% in 2025. This means that the electricity supplier will become the third largest luxury market in the world after China and the United States. According to a survey by consulting firm L2, 26% of the world's luxury brands have entered Tmall's flagship store, up 5 percentage points from last year.

Another report by McKinsey also shows that the "post-90s" account for 28% of the total consumption of luxury goods, with an annual expenditure of 25 thousand yuan. McKinsey believes that in the face of trillions of China's luxury goods market, the top priority of the brand is to create itself as the first social capital of the younger generation.

Only by embracing the brands of digitalization and young people can we meet the challenges of the times. This is the eve of the comprehensive digitalization of the luxury industry, and the landing of Chanel Tmall flagship store is accelerating this future.