Previously, the luxury fashion sector had the reputation of poor customer
services provided by cold and aloof sales staff. However, several luxury
brands have realized the importance of client relations and are investing in
smart and stylish sales staff with dispositions to be responsive to customer
needs, with the right personality to embody the aura of the brand.
The shopping lunchis a relatively new retailing technique in luxury fashion
retail, pioneered by innovative luxury brands such as Fendi. This method
mixes the art of entertaining and socializing with shopping in a private
setting. Shopping lunches take place when luxury brands invite a specific
number of clients to an afternoon of eating, socializing and shopping, at a
private venue. Fendi currently hosts four shopping lunches annually in the
UK, each time in the home of a different Fendi client handpicked by the
brand. The guest list is a chain of invited guests who are asked to invite other
guests until all available slots are taken. The invited guests are shown a
collection of products that include pre-order-only goods as well as collections
that are yet to be displayed in the stores. The benefits of shopping lunches are
similar to those of trunk shows, personal stylist shopping and pre-season
shopping. These include the comfort of exclusive private shopping in a
relaxed environment; expert and individual style advice; high customer satis-
faction; high purchase probability; enhanced brand relationship; convenience
for the shoppers; and increased sales turnover for the brand.
The case of designer outlet shopping villages
Discount shopping is a major retail feature that attracts consumers to brands.
In pursuit of the best value for their money, consumers are ready and willing
to go an extra mile for certain types of products including fashion goods. It
was on this premise that the concept of discount outlet centres was developed
for fashion goods. In the early days of this phenomenon, discount outlets
were found mainly in North America, and were often warehouse-style retail
centres on the outskirts of major cities where mass fashion brands often went
to ‘dump’ their old stock that was no longer desirable in the main stores.
These goods were sold at exceptionally low prices to attract consumers and
to clear the stock. This concept was highly successful as consumers were
often willing to travel the extra kilometres for a good bargain. However,
discount or outlet shopping was for a long time the domain of mass-market
retailers. Today, this concept has encroached into the luxury fashion scene.
It began when Prada purchased a mass piece of land in the small town of
Montevarchi, Tuscany, located between Milan and Florence in Italy, and
began developing a shopping mall that would later serve as a discount village
for the brand. Today, the outlet mall officially named ‘The Space’ retails
Prada and Mui Mui products, including apparel and leather goods, at prices
chapter 4 97luxury retail design and atmosphere