Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy, or LVMH, the world’s largest luxury conglomerate is launching a new e-commerce site on June 6th. The site is called 24sevres.com and is modeled after LVMH’s Parisian department store, Le Bon Marché.
The new site will offer luxury beauty items and other luxury goods from 150 brands, including 20 of LVMH’s brands. The website sells brands such as Tata Harper, Aesop, Chantecaille, Diptyque and many more. LVMH owns Sephora and iconic beauty brands such as Guerlain, Make Up For Ever and Benefit Cosmetics.
The luxury market in general once shied away from e-commerce, thinking it would lessen its exclusivity. However, with the e-commerce boom globally, luxury beauty brands have been able to find great success online. According to the Business of Fashion: “While e-commerce still only makes up a small percentage of overall luxury goods sales, online sales grew four times faster than offline sales between 2009 and 2014. McKinsey & Company predicts it will triple […] representing 18 percent of total luxury sales.” There is clearly a large area of opportunity for luxury beauty in the e-commerce space.
Not only does a strong online presence result in e-commerce sales, but it can also influence in-store purchases. According to the Boston Consulting group: “Six out of 10 sales are digitally influenced and in-store purchases often follow online research.” Not only are consumers using e-commerce sites to make purchases, they are researching for in-store purchases as well. Additionally, “customers that buy both online and in-store typically spend 50 percent more than those who only [shop in-store].”
Many luxury brands have already capitalized on this fact and sell their products on online. In fact, LVMH brands Fendi, Marc Jacobs and Nicholas Kirkwood are currently sold on Net-A-Porter. Select other LVMH brands have standalone e-commerce sites.
Why This Matters For You
There is no way around having a strong online presence for your beauty brand. Even if your products are sold in-store, customers want to research your brand before buying it, and those that do tend to spend more. An online presence is a win-win no matter the situation. If you have a luxury beauty business, e-commerce is wide open for you! LVMH is large, multi-national, conglomerate. But the same principles they know and use will work for you too!
