For as much as we want to complicate the matter, fashion management still relies on three fundamental relationships:

• Consumers. Understanding and intersecting consumer behavior is essential to generate first-time buyers, and hopefully, transform them into returning customers. As we discussed in this post (How to Design a Bespoke Brand Experience) the relationship with consumers is 80% perception and 20% delivery. Leveraging an aspirational and emotional component in the mind of consumers allows brands to bypass the pricetag. As fast-fashion retailers have shown us, the thrill of a discounted item can really go a long way in terms of sales, especially when you are able to create a constant sense o contingency and opportunity, capable of making your clients come back to the store again and again. At the same time, we need to make sure our brands incorporate values that don’t only look at fast conversion. An example above all is represented by the dire need for sustainable brands and sustainable production cycles. This is the ultimate challenge which is in fact pursued, albeit at different paces, by any player in fashion. Unsustainable brands are undeniably destined to go out of fashion.

However, we must not forget that any emotional or experiential element needs to be grounded upon operational efficiency. And this leads us to our next point. 

• Operations Management. Operations are about efficiency, but that’s not all. If you think that steadily attending to your customers is all you need to do, think again. Successful operations management is about creating a store experience, within the brand experience. How do your customers feel when they enter the store? What kind of narrative are they participating in when touching your products. What kind of staffing strategy is able to find the right individuals to personify your brand?  What makes the visit to the physical store worth the effort? These are only some of the questions you need to answer if you want to bring your “retail game” to another level. This aspect, however, is not to be considered only on the grounds of physical retail experiences, but in the wider (and much more competitive) context of omnichannel distribution. This leads us to our third and final level of strategic planning: e-commerce management.
  
  
• E-commerce and Social Media. The reason why these two terms are part of the same sentence is because in my opinion come 2020 there is no real distinction between them. Social media is e-commerce, e-commerce is social media. The Chinese marketplace was able to show us the strict interrelationship between the two, ever since digital commerce was introduced to Chinese consumers. When it comes to luxury, however, there is a challenging conundrum to solve: if luxury is about standing out, how can it be available to everyone? Each brand has to look at itself in the mirror and find their own answer to this matter, as so much of the brand’s perception will derive from understanding how far a firm is willing to go to expand on its target audience. We will discuss this point in section 3 of this post, but for now, a word of warning: not making your products available online will not prevent your brand to become a mass-brand, a company can in fact find its brand diluted simply because of its own success. LMVH in the Asian markets is a prestigious example of how, despite their efforts to limit access to their products to online consumers, they are still suffering from a masstige effect on their purses. More on this later in the post.

Let’s now move on to identifying the core elements which define luxury. These are the elements we want to focus on, as we dive into the future of luxury brand management.