Chapter 15. Retailing

Louis Vuitton store
1 East 57th Street (corner with Fifth Avenue)
New York, NY 10022
USA

I recently visited the Louis Vuitton store on 5th Av, the largest in U.S. The building itself it's breathtaking, the exterior was renovated in 2007 by the architect Jun Aoki, he had the freedom to transform the stolid art decor exterior into a destination with multifaceted 21st Century appeal. Aoki conceived of the glass façade as a playfully sleek meditation on crystalline transparency and clouded translucency. Passersby experience a teasing optical illusion by day and a diffused streetlamp-through-fog appearance by night. At 20,000 square feet, the store's interior, designed by Peter Marino (New York) with LV Paris, was one of the largest retail spaces the LVMH store planning department ever worked on. More steel had to be added to the existing structure to support the new façade. Then, there was the Warner Bro's movie theater that had to be converted back to a level floor and structurally re-corrected for use as office space. Plus there were tons of wacky cartoon character detritus and candy machines left behind, such as the Superman who had formerly "supported" the old glass elevator and gargantuan Ninja Turtles.

The Damier checker pattern on the exterior is also the dominant interior motif: Grids and double-square rectangles are wittily integrated throughout the floors, in the checkerboard rugs, the double-square mill work for the product displays and the (quite literally) flashy LED "Feature Wall." The wall climbs from the ground floor up three stories to the top of the retail volume and is visible from outside the store. It can shift into 60 different spectrum colors, ranging from jewel-tone intense to misty pastel. It also functions as a screen for still images and films. Other interior highlights include: a wall of vintage trunks hovering above the periphery of the ground floor dotted with red hat cases evoking the 1943 Piet Mondrian painting, "Broadway Boogie Woogie," and the cantilevered bronze-clad monotube staircase.

The luxury store offers a truly unique shopping experience with its leather goods, classic men's and women's ready-to-wear, modern timepieces and jewelry, and uptown-chic footwear. Past the towering wooden grids that showcase the famed handbags lie the relaxed suits and ultra-feminine knee-length skirts that typify Vuitton's polished look, punctuated by bright colors and soft accents for a swank mix of tradition and modernity; this familiar style is echoed throughout Vuitton's designs, from the monogrammed canvas belts to the red ostrich-leather wrist watches. The displays are elegantly furnished, every item seems to scream buy me. The customers service is also excellent, the sales associates wear black suits with the tag of their name and they're not pushy, but well informed about the products and very professional. The atmosphere is without any doubt welcoming and is really hard to get out without buying anything.

Louis Vuitton uses e-tailing as well, its website is very elegant, informative and easy to navigate, the background music makes the shopping online even more pleasant. The website offers all services that you can find in the store, there are different ways you can contact a professional if you need any help, such as chat option, phone or call back option. The website offers personalized service as well.

Louis Vuitton's use of personalized e-commerce shows marketers how luxury brands can preserve their exclusive shopping experience and inspirational brand image online. Louis Vuitton is able to offer its traditional personalized service to its community of Facebook users via its Mon Monogram app. Users discuss purchase to a much greater extent than for other post topics, suggesting the app can act as a call to action while maintaining Louis Vuitton’s luxurious brand image. Alongside its posts about culture and travel, Louis Vuitton's Facebook page features the Mon Monogram app.  which allows members to fully customize their bag with hand-painted personal initials and stripes on the color and direction of their choice. They are then prompted to visit the Louis Vuitton store to purchase their customized bag. Users of the app can also send “virtual” gifts to each other, adding a social dimension to the experience.

Sources: vmsd.com/content/louis-vuitton, Louis Vuitton.com, LVMH.com