Traditional. E-Commerce Needs Upgrading: Luxury Online Trend

? ? ? ? Although China's market has increasingly become a high-value market in the eyes of major luxury brands and is expected to become the global luxury market in 2025, the domestic luxury e-commerce has not turned out to be as good as expected. With the privatization and delisting of Siku, the vertical e-commerce of luxury goods seems to be coming to an end.

However, the giants' enthusiasm for luxury e-commerce is still on the rise. The luxury e-commerce farfetch jointly invested by Ali and luxury group Lifeng is actively developing business in China. Although the sales volume of major comprehensive e-commerce and the official luxury stores on wechat app are touching, they still keep the display sales window.

One is the vertical luxury e-commerce that is about to end, and the other is an e-commerce platform that is constantly expanding in scale and has official qualifications. Why is there such a big contrast between the development of the two? Is the luxury e-commerce of Internet + Luxury Strategy a false proposition? What kind of state will luxury online show in the end?

one Replacement of e-commerce and online luxury goods: one left and one right

Now the Internet has become the underlying tool, embracing the Internet is embracing the times. The Internet breaks the geographical boundaries, covers the general public, enlarges the long tail effect in all walks of life, splicing small markets into large markets. As a result, e-commerce platform has become the spokesperson of users, prying the seller's price system with huge demand. With the role of spokesperson, the user gets more right to speak before selling, and the marginal cost is reduced, which makes thousands of commodities "fly into ordinary people's homes".

However, in the luxury industry, the long tail effect of e-commerce has not expanded the entire luxury market, because luxury goods are essentially "playthings" of high net worth users. Luxury goods are not only sold in kind, but also have the experience, ceremony and dignity attached to their special commodity attributes. Their existence is a kind of energy gathering product.

From the perspective of consumer purchase, luxury online is a process of value reduction. From the perspective of brand side, the e-commerce of low-cost sales will undoubtedly damage its own brand value and is not conducive to cultural output. During the period of industrial depression, the unconventional price increase of luxury goods promotes the sales volume, which is enough to explain the importance of brand value for luxury goods, while the logic of small profit and high sales is not applicable to luxury goods.

However, with the steady growth of China's luxury market and the stimulation of China's potential to become the world's largest luxury consumer market, various domestic luxury e-commerce companies are "born by carrier", trying to squeeze out a sunshine Avenue in the luxury market. However, with the privatization of temple library, the curtain of luxury vertical e-commerce has also been drawn down.

When e-commerce is labeled with luxury goods, it will no longer be the spokesperson of users under the unique commodity attributes of luxury goods. The circle is not big, but the marginal cost increases because of self built channels. Low price is not only the driving force for high net worth users to buy luxury goods, but also has the psychology of devaluation for users.

Luxury e-commerce is the reverse process of commodity sales.

The improvement of efficiency and user experience is the symbol of industry evolution. Search makes Taobao a success, because it provides a good interaction and positive circulation for businesses and consumers, forms supplier network effect and consumer network effect, and improves the matching efficiency of people and goods. With the bottleneck of search retail and the low matching efficiency, pinduoduo takes advantage of social networking. Social retail has become an efficient e-commerce network, further reducing the marginal cost of traffic.

If we compare the sense of ceremony and dignity reflected in the process of buying luxury goods to the social needs of high net worth users, it is a perceptual process for consumers to purchase under various sales promotion of salesmen. The e-commerce of luxury goods has become a simple search display, listing goods on the Internet for anyone to choose, which is a rational behavior with strong purpose.

Luxury e-commerce reduces the marginal cost of sales. On the contrary, it can't let users reflect the added value of luxury goods, and it can't make users pay online.

Low price has always been a label that e-commerce can't get rid of. Its value embodiment is incompatible with the positioning of luxury brands, and it is difficult to integrate the two. Luxury embracing online does not mean embracing e-commerce, it is more like a luxury marketing.

When the flow is exhausted, embracing online can promote the brand value and cultural output of luxury goods in multiple dimensions, and further consolidate the sense of dignity of luxury goods by taking advantage of the east wind of sales channel reform, and conduct a marketing of the times.

two Where is the death of luxury e-commerce?

Vertical luxury e-commerce seems to be reduced to the official employees of the brand. The more noise the industry makes, the more happy luxury brands will be. After all, as long as the vertical luxury e-commerce can not solve the problem of consumer trust, can not obtain the official authorization of brands, and can not find a long-term and effective way to obtain high-end customers, brand officials are not afraid of the vertical luxury e-commerce turning into the host and becoming the spokesperson of high net worth users.

Trust is the most important cornerstone of e-commerce. Due to the lack of inherent attributes of offline scenes of e-commerce platform, shopping on e-commerce platform is highly uncontrollable. If the platform is not strictly controlled, it will cause trust crisis and lead to the loss of users. The higher the value of products, the greater the trust crisis of users. The crisis of fake goods will lead to its failure.

Although in recent years, a series of problems represented by fake goods in e-commerce platform have been effectively curbed, but in the trend of huge trade, fake goods have become an industry problem. In particular, the luxury industry, which has a high rate of sex discrimination, has even reached the level of gender discrimination. Even luxury brands can not be effectively identified, let alone without a third platform authorized by the brand side.

In the gucci belt storm, the three parties did not reach a unified conclusion on the authenticity of "when things". Vipshop took out the overseas acquisition information to trace the source and said that it was true. Dewu also said that it had no problem with its identification. Gucci issued an official statement saying that except for the official store, other products could not be genuine.

The core problem of this matter is that fake goods are becoming more and more similar. It is difficult to identify the authenticity in the conventional way. Fake goods are more like real goods than real goods in luxury goods industry. Zou.com eventually degenerated into a "smuggling network", which was one of the main factors for its profit seeking.

At the same time, the failure to find a long-term and effective way to attract high-end customers is also the pain point of vertical e-commerce.

Well known luxury has its own membership system, some of its goods need to reach a certain amount of consumption to buy. Its identity can not be obtained through the amount of money, is a symbol of nobility. This is the main means for luxury goods to bind consumers. Without official authorization, luxury e-commerce can't get through its membership system, and high-end users' loyalty can't be obtained by means of high-end marketing or price reduction.

In order to prevent the occurrence of trust crisis, luxury e-commerce has to increase the investment in the supply chain, which will inevitably increase the cost and reduce the space for the consumer, and can not blindly transfer the cost to consumers. The gross of e-commerce industry is not high, far less than 10%. The comprehensive e-commerce is large enough and can eat the cake of precipitation funds, so it can be expanded.

Luxury goods belong to the industry with small market and low price. In order to improve the popularity and trust, marketing expenditure is still needed. High marketing can not form high conversion rate. Therefore, it is inevitable that the vertical e-commerce of luxury goods with low price will come to an end.

three Wealth code of luxury E-commerce

New retail may be the wealth code of luxury online. The seamless connection of offline and online scenes can achieve positive interaction with customers through accurate offline positioning and display, so as to guide online. Based on high net worth users, it radiates to other industries, such as high-end bars and clubs.

Open up the membership system, build a precise and vertical consumption mode under the scene, and create a one-stop boutique life. This is the right way to open up the evolution of the luxury industry - socializing products.

Luxury consumers themselves have their own circle, and the main value of their products is also reflected in the "display" within the circle. And luxury itself has a series of sales, maintenance and other chain, clearly know the level represented by consumers. Its purchase process is the screening process, which can accurately recommend other industries and make the drainage without any violation.

Therefore, Siku has transformed into a high-end consumer goods service platform. It not only cooperates with global well-known brands, but also creates its own brand. Its purpose is to tap the deep-seated consumption ability of high net worth users. However, it is still hard to escape the fate of privatization.

For luxury brands, Siku is a comprehensive platform. In order to maintain the relationship between different brands and different circles, it is bound to increase the operating costs. Secondly, the cultural values of different brands are different, and the values of audience groups are not the same, and even there is a chain of contempt between them. The consequence of an introduction is no less than a "palace fight".

Therefore, the new retail model is more like an e-commerce model for luxury brands. For vertical e-commerce companies, which sell luxury goods as the main way, they lack the underlying gene. And in terms of service, how can the hasty vertical luxury e-commerce compare with the luxury brands that have already "played out their services".

Compared with the first-hand luxury goods, the second-hand luxury market is more like a vertical electronic consultation for luxury goods.

In the new era, when young people consume luxury goods, they have their own unique values. The trend of cost performance is rising, and the circular economy of second-hand luxury consumption is gradually expanding. According to the "2021 China's second-hand luxury e-commerce platform consumption insight report", in 2021q1, 55.4% of Chinese consumers' second-hand luxury purchase channels come from the second-hand luxury trading platform, and the post-90s generation has become the "shoulder of the hand" in the second-hand consumer goods industry.

The mainstream group of the second-hand luxury market is the "front-line young workers", who pay more attention to the product itself. The social experience brought by the purchase of luxury goods is not its main demand. It has a wider audience and is in line with the low price label of e-commerce. As long as the trust crisis can be eliminated, the second-hand luxury market is more in line with the industry positioning of e-commerce