Luxury conglomerate LVMH will be launching a new multi-brand online retail channel—but how will it do in the ultra-competitive e-commerce industry?
The site, called 24 Sèvres, will launch on June 6 in 70 countries. According to Reuters, the site will offer fashion, cosmetics, and luggage products from around 150 brands, which will include those from LVMH’s own portfolio and elsewhere.
However, this investment’s success is far from certain: the virtual luxury scene is becoming crowded, with big names like Net-A-Porter, Matchesfashion.com, Sephora, Ulta, Nieman Marcus, and Yoox taking up a great slice of market share.
Plus, dealing with these digital department stores will not be easy. Research from e-commerce expert L2 shows that these e-tailers have some of the most sophisticated e-commerce strategies. That being said, e-commerce is expected to be the largest sales arena for luxury items by 2025, making this is a crucial step for LVMH.
This news begs the question: what will a new addition to online luxury mean for independent retailers? Simply put, it will put even more pressure on the ever-crowded e-commerce market. As such, jewellers will either have to step up their online presence to compete, or put more manpower into their bricks-and-mortar operations.
