LVMH in the Recession
http://www.economist.com/node/14447276
LVMH in the recession
The substance of style
The world’s biggest luxury-goods group is benefiting from a flight to quality, but the recession is also prompting questions about the company’s breadth and balance
Sep 17th 2009 | Paris | from the print edition * *
Bloomberg
“THERE are four main elements to our business model—product, distribution, communication and price,” explains an executive at LVMH, the world's largest luxury-goods group. “Our job is to do such a fantastic job on the first three that people forget all about the fourth.” For decades LVMH's formula has worked like a spell: seduced by beautiful status-symbols, perfect shops and clever advertising, millions of people have swooned forgetfully towards the firm's cash registers. At Louis Vuitton, LVMH's star company, the model's pricing power has yielded consistent profit margins of around 40-45%, the highest of any luxury-goods brand.
These days customers are finding it far harder to forget about price. The seriously rich, of course, are still spending freely. But much of the industry's rapid growth in the past decade came from middle-class people, often buying on credit or on the back of rising house prices. According to Luca Solca of Bernstein Research, 60% of the luxury market is now based on demand from “aspirational” customers rather than from the wealthy elite. The recession has quickly reversed the trend to trade up, and people are delaying expensive purchases. Bain & Company, a consulting firm, expects the industry's sales to fall by a tenth in 2009, to €153 billion ($225 billion).
Some executives even expect a lasting shift in customers' preferences, towards discretion and value. Bernard Arnault, chairman and chief executive of LVMH, believes that the whole industry needs to rebrand itself. “The word luxury suggests triviality and showing off, and the time for all that has gone,” he says. Brands which sold “blingy” easy-to-sell
LVMH in the recession
The substance of style
The world’s biggest luxury-goods group is benefiting from a flight to quality, but the recession is also prompting questions about the company’s breadth and balance
Sep 17th 2009 | Paris | from the print edition * *
Bloomberg
“THERE are four main elements to our business model—product, distribution, communication and price,” explains an executive at LVMH, the world's largest luxury-goods group. “Our job is to do such a fantastic job on the first three that people forget all about the fourth.” For decades LVMH's formula has worked like a spell: seduced by beautiful status-symbols, perfect shops and clever advertising, millions of people have swooned forgetfully towards the firm's cash registers. At Louis Vuitton, LVMH's star company, the model's pricing power has yielded consistent profit margins of around 40-45%, the highest of any luxury-goods brand.
These days customers are finding it far harder to forget about price. The seriously rich, of course, are still spending freely. But much of the industry's rapid growth in the past decade came from middle-class people, often buying on credit or on the back of rising house prices. According to Luca Solca of Bernstein Research, 60% of the luxury market is now based on demand from “aspirational” customers rather than from the wealthy elite. The recession has quickly reversed the trend to trade up, and people are delaying expensive purchases. Bain & Company, a consulting firm, expects the industry's sales to fall by a tenth in 2009, to €153 billion ($225 billion).
Some executives even expect a lasting shift in customers' preferences, towards discretion and value. Bernard Arnault, chairman and chief executive of LVMH, believes that the whole industry needs to rebrand itself. “The word luxury suggests triviality and showing off, and the time for all that has gone,” he says. Brands which sold “blingy” easy-to-sell