French department stores ‘Lafayette and Printemps prepare for post-corona era’

 

INTRODUCTION

In a world where covid-19 continues to contaminate the air, France relishes a festive atmosphere. The resulting hype of the awaited festivities drives the wide-ranging stores and the goodly shopping malls to divert the attention towards the attraction of the exhilarated French as well as foreign customers. there are two french department stores

Galeries Lafayette and Pristin Group

Lafayettes features

On the auspicious season of Christmas, let's take a look at the similar yet divergent growth strategies of 'Galeries Lafayette' and 'Printin Group'. As a leader of the French distribution industry, the Galeries Lafayette Group has led the consumer culture over the centuries. The 125 years of business rewarded it with colossal distribution chains. The Galeries Lafayette lies beside the Opera Garnier. The Opera is the centre of Parisian culture, it has 290 stores, including the Galery Lafayette Haussmann. The Haussmann is the symbol of the group and an additional remarkable sight for the beauty and fashion enthusiasts.

The French Galeries clientele

Lafayettes report a behemoth 60 million clientele that strike both online stores as well as offline retail shops. It has many distinct qualities to offer, including the fifty-seven large shopping malls of Galeries Lafayette. In addition to this, the Beasucheve Marais of Marais, a representative commercial district in Paris also acts as an attractor of buyers. The sixty-two grandeur jewellery brand Mobusang combined with the online fashion and household good site 'La Hdute' are also credited for a sizeable amount of customers. Admittedly, the Galeries Lafayette Haussmann attracts a majority of the buyers. The year 2019 recorded a high of 37 million foreigners visiting the renowned locale. In comparison, Harrods, a luxury department store representing London in England reported an average of 15 million visitors annually, regarded quite a significant number.

Printemps Group

 

The word Printin means 'spring' from French to English. It has 16 retail stores and 3 online platforms. This covers the extensive shopping malls titled Printang, Citadium, and the Printant Outlet. The Print in Groups brands captures around 50 million visitors annually. The group works efficiently with the online stores that account for the majority of the sales revenue. As a result,  the Coronavirus did not drastically impact the business.

Competition between the French retailers

Competing for over a century, the two groups are rewriting French retail history. In terms of size, the Galeries Lafayette group and the Printin group cannot be compared. As for sales, only in 2018 did the Printin group exceed 1 billion euros in sales, contrary to the Lafayette Group which had already surpassed 1.6 billion euros in 2016. Their sales give a more relevant comparison. The Galeries 60 million sales and the Printin groups 50 million, quite a difference considering the gap in their size.

The two appear alike in their qualities as supreme fashion leaders and retailers. Even the business strategies, if one put a 30% sale the next day the other would put a 33% sale. Given that, their customer base is considerably distinct. Printin first introduced expensive products in the form of a department store, for a new class of economically prosperous people. Although a latecomer, an increasingly popular working-class sought out Galeries Lafayette.

This competition continues to this day as a new page is written with a similarly different look. Lafayette Group prepares a 'real-life metaverse' to attract customers to their stores. In the modern era, especially during the years when a contagious deadly virus has enveloped the world, offline stores are a double-edged sword.

demand for offline stores in  france

While many French does prefer brick-and-mortar stores, the e-commerce market is gaining more popularity by the day. Not solely, but the covid-19 virus has contributed to the demise of physical retail shops. The costs involved in offline stores hinder a retailer from reaching potential profit. The costs comprise, but aren't limited to the labour and rental expenses along with the overhead costs. However, in a country like France offline stores still garner a huge market share. Consumer preference explains this phenomenon. Numerous shoppers still enjoy utilising their five senses during their sprees. The fresh environment, aesthetically pleasing setting, touching and feeling all types of materials while communicating with others is still enjoyed by the population and can't be accessed offline.

The Lafayette Group capitalises on this desire and aims to maximise customer service for an elite experience. It introduced the so-called 'it' and 'hip' brands targeting young consumers after realising the potential in that market. In addition to this,  it carries out various market strategies to further increase the vitality of the Group.

Plan for the French Group

Some might not find the previous information intriguing. What's truly interesting is the fourth axis. To collaborate with well-known business entities in the region is the plan. Starting with Roland Garros, commonly known as the French Open, is considered one of the four major tennis tournaments in the world. Second, comes Disney Land Paris, a land of dreams and fantasies, no further explanation is needed. And, lastly Moulin Rouge, famous for its movie title and now a whole genre in itself due to its spectacular dances and music.

features of the plan

The plan incorporates the installation of a screen on the rooftop, an outdoor observatory. Live Roland Garros games and the dancing can be played representing Moulin Rouge. The department store's rooftops transformation into one representing lively sports and gorgeous art would give the utmost 'real-life metaverse' experience. Foreign tourists bring in Lafayette's main customer base. This plan indeed reflects a certainly clear audience. The accounting cash flows will look better, and the tourists will feel and enjoy the glory of Paris.

Chinese customers

Chinese tourists are especially important clientele for the french department stores, as everywhere else. A 2017 data collection reports that a massive majority of the clientele of the Ottoman branch are Chinese. They took 25% of the years' performance. The Galeries Lafayette Group also directly visits Chinese tourists and even overseas tourists who possess purchasing power. In 2013, the first store was opened in Beijing, while the second store hit the market of Shanghai in 2019. Lafayette's ultimate goal is to secure 10 branches in China by 2025 and earn 60-70% of overseas revenue in China.

One aspect left in the new axis of Galeries Lafayette Haussmann is the expansion of sales of used products. Lafayette produced its labelling system that they termed 'Go for good'. The fresh label is assigned to the 'good products' that are deemed to be environmentally friendly while taking into account the production region through self-certification. The targeting of the younger generation gave rise to this idea, who are sensitive to environmental issues.

Printins views

Before this, the Printin Group emphasized eco-friendly and responsible management and even presented specific directions. From September 2nd, a new slogan, 'Unis vers le beau respnsable', was hung at Printin stores across France. It aspires to put products positive for society and the environment to the fore and to achieve ethical and responsible management.

During the same period, the printhead Haussmann branch, which is the de facto head office, was dedicated to the fashion brand 'Chloe'. Chloe introduces a manufacturing system with a virtuous cycle structure that considers the impact on the environment and society. Printin gained its attention and gave meaning to the attempt to create new value by using both raw and recycled materials.

Printin is also keeping an eye on overseas markets. After withdrawing from the Japanese Tokyo Shinjuku branch in 2017, a new strategy was established. It appears to be following Lafayette, but in reality, they announced the opening of branches in Doha and Milan well before. They also announced their desire to open 5 to 10 stores in major cities around the world in 2030. The competition between the two seems to flourish and is expected to develop in the future as well. The result of this would be for the betterment of consumers as well as the environment