The sale of luxury goods at discounted prices is not a new practice,
although it is not widely publicized, and is a practice that has amplified in the
last decade. The adoption of the mass discounting strategy for luxury goods
is a result of several factors in the changing environment of luxury fashion
retailing. These factors have placed an emphasis on sales returns and
commercial results, driving luxury brands to adopt discount selling strategies.
Notable among these factors are the following:
1 Consumers have become wise to the variety of choices they have in terms
of luxury and mass fashion goods. They increasingly know where to go to
find what they want and are ready to reject the brand that doesn’t meet
their expectations in terms of value for money and product design.
2 The luxury market is expanding rapidly and the competition level has
more than doubled in the last decade. This has put a lot of pressure on
luxury brands.
chapter 4 99luxury retail design and atmosphereFigure 4.12 Discount
shopping outlet,
Bicester Village, near
London, 2004
Figure 4.13 La Vallée
Village discount outlet
village, near Paris, 2006