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With Covid-19 restrictions preventing South Koreans from travelling and shopping tax-free, there is a rush to luxury shops, especially Chanel.
South Koreans are driving a boom in luxury goods in their country, leading Chanel to exclude nearly a third of its potential buyers to prevent mass buyers from snapping up $10,000 bags for resale at margins of 20% or more. At issue ? The planned increase in some of the brand’s products as well as the easing of pandemic-related restrictions.
The luxury group has seen footfall in its South Korean shops fall since it began screening out customers who it said were stocking up for the sole purpose of reselling. “We were able to identify them (wholesale buyers) after analysing their buying habits. Since the policy was implemented, traffic in our shops has dropped by 30 percent,” Chanel told Reuters.
South Korea is the world’s seventh-largest luxury goods market, according to Euromonitor, and the research firm estimates that the country is one of only two of the top seven markets by revenue, along with China, to have seen sales increase last year from pre-pandemic 2019 levels.
Checks and queues
However, the offer of brands such as Chanel is tightly controlled, preserving exclusivity and reinforcing the appeal of the brand. Indeed, they have no online shopping options outside of cosmetics, perfumes and some small accessories. Such is the appetite in central Seoul that long queues form before dawn in front of department stores. Shoppers are preparing for what is known as an “open run“, meaning a sprint to the doors of Chanel at opening time.
“I arrived … at 5.30am for an open run and was told there were more than 30 people in front of me,” one buyer told Reuters. I arrived … at 5.30am for an open run and was told there were more than 30 people in front of me,” a shopper told Reuters outside a Chanel shop in Seoul. Reflecting such demand in the resale market, a classic Chanel medium-sized flap bag sold for 13.5 million won ($11,031), or 20 percent more than its standard retail price, on Kream, an e-commerce platform that is a subsidiary of technology giant Naver Corp.
Alongside the selection of wholesale buyers, Chanel said it had implemented a queue management system. To do this, customers are asked to give their number and reason for visiting the shop so they can be notified by SMS when they can enter. “Consumers voluntarily advertise Chanel for free – by camping outside (the shops), doing open shopping, posting their experiences on social media,” explains Lee Eun Hee, a senior manager at Chanel. Lee Eun Hee, professor of consumer science at Inha University, said. “I think all these phenomena have helped Chanel attract younger customers and make a lot of money from it.”
Some retailers even pay a hefty fee to have someone stand in line for them, to ensure they get their product. However, some consumers have no such incentive and say that the long queues in front of the shops and the waiting lists discouraged them from making purchases. “I just gave up on buying a Chanel product a long time ago“, commented one Seville resident. commented a Seoul resident in her thirties.
Read also > GABRIELLE CHANEL MEETS THE WORLD OF MANGA
Featured photo : © Chanel[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row njt-role=”not-logged-in”][vc_column][vc_column_text]
With Covid-19 restrictions preventing South Koreans from travelling and shopping tax-free, there is a rush to luxury shops, especially Chanel.
South Koreans are driving a boom in luxury goods in their country, leading Chanel to exclude nearly a third of its potential buyers to prevent mass buyers from snapping up $10,000 bags for resale at margins of 20% or more. At issue ? The planned increase in some of the brand’s products as well as the easing of pandemic-related restrictions.
The luxury group has seen footfall in its South Korean shops fall since it began screening out customers who it said were stocking up for the sole purpose of reselling.
[…][/vc_column_text][vc_cta h2=”Cet article est réservé aux abonnés.” h2_font_container=”tag:h2|font_size:16|text_align:left” h2_use_theme_fonts=”yes” h4=”Abonnez-vous dès maintenant !” h4_font_container=”tag:h2|font_size:32|text_align:left|line_height:bas” h4_use_theme_fonts=”yes” txt_align=”center” color=”black” add_button=”right” btn_title=”JE M’ABONNE !” btn_color=”danger” btn_size=”lg” btn_align=”center” use_custom_fonts_h2=”true” use_custom_fonts_h4=”true” btn_button_block=”true” btn_custom_onclick=”true” btn_link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Ftest2023.luxus-plus.com%2Fen%2Fsubscriptions-and-newsletter-special-offer-valid-until-september-30-2020-2-2%2F|”]Accédez en illimité à tous les articles et vivez une expérience de lecture inédite, contenus en avant première, newsletter exclusives…
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With Covid-19 restrictions preventing South Koreans from travelling and shopping tax-free, there is a rush to luxury shops, especially Chanel.
South Koreans are driving a boom in luxury goods in their country, leading Chanel to exclude nearly a third of its potential buyers to prevent mass buyers from snapping up $10,000 bags for resale at margins of 20% or more. At issue ? The planned increase in some of the brand’s products as well as the easing of pandemic-related restrictions.
The luxury group has seen footfall in its South Korean shops fall since it began screening out customers who it said were stocking up for the sole purpose of reselling.
[…][/vc_column_text][vc_cta h2=”Cet article est réservé aux abonnés.” h2_font_container=”tag:h2|font_size:16|text_align:left” h2_use_theme_fonts=”yes” h4=”Abonnez-vous dès maintenant !” h4_font_container=”tag:h2|font_size:32|text_align:left|line_height:bas” h4_use_theme_fonts=”yes” txt_align=”center” color=”black” add_button=”right” btn_title=”JE M’ABONNE !” btn_color=”danger” btn_size=”lg” btn_align=”center” use_custom_fonts_h2=”true” use_custom_fonts_h4=”true” btn_button_block=”true” btn_custom_onclick=”true” btn_link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Ftest2023.luxus-plus.com%2Fen%2Fsubscriptions-and-newsletter-special-offer-valid-until-september-30-2020-2-2%2F|”]Accédez en illimité à tous les articles et vivez une expérience de lecture inédite, contenus en avant première, newsletter exclusives…
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