Louis Vuitton bets on pop-ups to find new ways to attract customers

The LVMH brand Louis Vuitton, whose sales took off again during the first quarter, is using pop-up stores to reach customers beyond those of its store network. The world’s premier luxury group aims to open around 100 pop-up stores in 2019 after having opened 80 last year, LVMH’s chief financial officer said during a telephone conference call with analysts on April 11.

“Pop-up stores are important because they constitute another channel for disseminating new releases from the brand to consumers,” said Jean-Jacques Guiony. “They make it possible for us to address our customers in a different manner and in different locations. This is important and, by definition, it adds flexibility to our network of fixed stores."

As an example, Louis Vuitton is currently running a pop-up store in the atrium of the Parisian multi-brand department store Printemps which will continue until May 5 and highlights the brand’s accessories. The brand also ran a pop-up store in New York’s Soho district last year that was dedicated to sneakers.

Ads

LVMH does not disclose Louis Vuitton’s financial results which are included in the group’s fashion and leather goods division as a whole. However, the results are generally in line with the entire fashion and leather goods division which also includes Dior Couture, Celine, and Fendi.

This division of the group saw growth figures rise again by 15 percent at the beginning of the year, the same rate witnessed over the whole of last year. This was well above the 11 percent growth forecast by analysts, despite a very high base of comparison: last year, sales increased by 16 percent. Exceeding expectations, LVMH’s quarterly performance was celebrated by investors on Thursday. After reaching a new record high of €346.75 on the Paris stock exchange, LVMH shares ended the day on April 11 at €344.95 a share. This represents a 33.6 percent value increase since the beginning of the year.