Firstclass Shopping

FOURTEENTH ENTRY:

Luxury brands are now going online too. Gucci Group CEO Robert Polet said, "When you plan an advertising campaign, you buy a magazine page hoping that the one million people who will leaf through it, will focus on the image for five seconds, even though you know that probably many won't even see it." These intimidating names (it takes a fashion genius to know how to pronounce them) are now seeing how the internet allows them to expand their market in a big way. The online stores reach customers that would otherwise have no way of buying the luxury goods because of absence of or limited distribution in the area. People are now more comfortable and secure in making online purchases. Even if they do not purchase online, at least they see the brands’ products and they see them still in a glamorous way. And if they like what they see so much, they can always go to the stores and buy them there. These brands, however, are conscious of the luxurious experience that their names have to live up to (all that cash and no glamour?unacceptable!) They make sure that the richness of their products (and their customers) is embodied by their online stores.

But I think having an online store takes away the lushness of these brands. Yes, they are able to reach more customers, but they lose the exclusivity at the same time. The real stores are for the elite. The online stores are for the “masses”. The internet is, after all, open to anyone and everyone. Then again, maybe even luxury has evolved as a concept because of the internet. The gap in the fashion world is being bridged by the internet, and it is bringing luxury to more people who are longing for it. Not that I am affected (drool), just saying.

Images from http://www.logodesignworks.com/blog/top-10-luxury-brand-logos