José Ignacio Gafo Gómez-Zamalloa

Is this is the end or just begin? Only time will tell. Giorgio Armani is to start selling its clothes online, breaking the paradigm that it does not make sense for luxury items to be sold online.

The official explanation given so far is that they lack the proper distribution in the USA, so the online store is the only way to make the items accessible nationwide.

Many questions come to my mind:
1. The first one is whether the customer of Armani are to purchase online?
2. The second one, what is going to be the effect in the Armani brand?
3. And the third one, the implications that it is going to have in its traditional offline distribution. In this regard, I enview both a channel conflict and a potential margin erosion.

What do you think about this? Do you think it will work? Or will they be enforced to close it in short?

I enclose the news from www.fashionunited.co.uk.

Think Different!!!
Ignacio Gafo

Giorgio Armani to open virtual store

Giorgio Armani will be expanding his emporium and open an online boutique on the 3-D virtual world Second Life. The store will allow viewers to purchase the brand's top 10 products virtually via Second Life currency, the Linden dollar, or in actuality.
More significantly, coming in September, Armani will start selling all Emporio Armani products online in the U.S. as part of an ongoing strategy of expanding e-commerce.
"In the last seven years, I have seen mounting enthusiasm for online fashion shopping in the United States through the growing success we have had with our A|X Armani Exchange site," Armani told WWD. "Over this same period I have also observed the increasing sophistication of fashion consumers shopping online, which has encouraged me to develop this new site for my Emporio Armani lifestyle."
A soft unveiling of the Emporio Armani site is slated for Aug. 14, while the official launch will take place Sept. 7, to coincide with the Neiman Marcus Crystal Charity luncheon in Dallas.
Robert Triefus, Armani's executive vice president of worldwide communications, said that, for the first time, the designer will be interviewed online by the American public that day. "A major American portal will organize a live chat interview with Mr. Armani," said Triefus, declining to reveal the name of the Web site until the deal has been finalized.
The designer said there are only 10 Emporio Armani freestanding stores in the U.S. and that the Web site will enable consumers nationwide to shop the entire collection
Initially, only U.S. residents will be able to shop, but the company plans to expand the site to Europe next year and to Asia after that. "America is the most advanced country for e-commerce. It's only logical to launch there first," said Triefus

Posted on 20 September 2007 in Branding, E-MARKETING, International Marketing, Nuevas Tendencias

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