Chanel has announced that it will globally harmonise the pricing of three of its signature bags (the 11.12, the Boy bag, and the 2.55), in an attempt to remove the growing price gap between Europe and Asia, due largely in part to the weakened euro.
Making prices parallel worldwide will see the French fashion house edge closer to a future global e-commerce platform but more saliently, eliminate doubts on authenticity due to pricing differentials.
“We want to be very clear that we are not part of that,” said Bruno Pavlosky, Chanel‘s President of Fashion Bruno Pavlovsky, “there is no way to go against that but to have the prices aligned.”
Currently, the price gap is so large that it justifies a Chinese shopper‘s return ticket to Europe to purchase the luxury label‘s accessories. Chanel‘s strategy will see a decline in this trend, as the cost of a staple Chanel bag rises in Europe but drops in Chinese yuan. This is all part of the wider plan, Pavlosky explained this morning, which is centred around both loyal and local customers who are “seduced by the brand and by the products” rather than led by different price tags.
At present, only beauty products are available online to the Chanel customer, who would need to visit a boutique or a select department store concession to obtain ready-to-wear items or accessories. Consistency in prices across countries will make an online move a much smoother one, although this may not happen for some time.
“It‘s to prepare the brand for the next 10 to 15 years. It‘s more about the future than the past,” continued Pavlovsky. “One day we will probably sell online, but we will do it when we are ready. Our products need to be touched, tried, experienced. We can‘t at the moment do this online.”
The harmonised pricing will roll out across all product categories and completion is expected by the end of 2015.
