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- Source/Night Deep Finance
- Author/Night Deep Finance
Introduction: The uneven world between the rich and the poor is vividly reflected in the consumption concept of luxury.
When I saw Hermes's new bag when I went shopping, the rich woman would shine with her eyes and rush into the store to swipe her card, while we ordinary workers would only complain with sincerity, luxury goods do not pit the poor, only the rich people.
It's just that in the context of consumption downgrading spreading around the world, the consumption game of luxury goods aimed at high-income groups cannot be played.
No, Hermes, which made a lot of money by relying on the distribution system, was collectively sued by the rich women in court.
01, Hermes was accused
Not long ago, a court in California received a class action lawsuit against the French luxury brand Hermès and the plaintiffs were local rich women.
The reason they gave for the lawsuit was that Hermès only allowed customers with "sufficient purchase records" to buy bags of specific models of its brand, a rule that allegedly violated antitrust laws.
One of the plaintiffs said that he had spent tens of thousands of dollars on Hermès products and a platinum bag, but was prevented from buying again, while others said that they had been repeatedly told by store staff that they needed to be distributed.
▶ Source: Hermes official WeChat
If you want to get your favorite luxury item, you need to buy other expensive products in advance to be eligible for purchase, which is the "distribution system" of luxury brands, and this is the case all over the world.
It is understood that there are multiple levels of Hermes' distribution ratio, the lowest is 1:0.5, as well as 1:1, 1:1.5, and the highest can reach 1:2.
That is to say, if you want to buy a Hermes bag for 200,000 yuan, you need to buy at least 100,000 yuan of other Hermes products in advance, and you need to spend up to 400,000 yuan more.
▶ Source: Xiaohongshu netizens
However, the distribution of Hermes has always been just a "folk rumor" and has not been officially certified.
Even, the word "distribution" is likely to be a taboo word in Hermes stores, and salespeople generally use "consumption accumulation" instead.
In January this year, a reporter asked the Hermes official customer service center about the distribution, and the reply was "We Hermes is not equipped with this statement", when the reporter continued to ask "what if the clerk has this behavior", the customer service said: "We can only tell you that Hermes does not have an official distribution, please also know here." ”
Hermes, which is secretive about "distribution", is avoiding the legal risks behind it.
According to the Law on the Protection of Consumer Rights and Interests of the People's Republic of China, consumers have the right to choose goods or services independently. Consumers have the right to independently choose the business operators that provide goods or services, to choose the types of goods or services, to decide whether to buy or not to buy any kind of goods, and to accept or not to accept any kind of services.
The so-called "distribution" is actually a kind of bundling sales, which is suspected of infringing on the legitimate rights and interests of consumers.
02、困于“配货”的富婆们
There's a line in "Sex and the City", "When I carry it, I know I'm already on the fly", which refers to the Hermès bag.
▶ Source: Weibo
Luxury is often seen as a status symbol for wealthy people, and Hermès is even more so.
And in order to better reflect the social status of the wealthy, Hermès has given the brand scarcity and uniqueness, thus building a barrier between the rich and the ordinary.
For this reason, Hermès has strict regulations on the sale of classic and popular handbags, and most stores are only allowed to sell a maximum of 3 classic or popular handbags per day, and if the number exceeds the limit, the relevant personnel and even the store manager will face the risk of being fired.
In other words, even if you are rich, you may not be able to buy your favorite bag right away.
This is how the "distribution system" emerged.
If you can help the salesperson sell some products that are not easy to sell, you can have a good relationship with them, then you may be able to buy the popular bag as soon as possible.
This allows all Hermès merchandise to be sold. A French asset management company once found that even though Hermès has increased production for three consecutive years, it has hardly thrown away anything since 2014, and all products will be sold.
Over time, Hermès saw a business opportunity. Since any commodity can be sold, it is better to produce some "distribution exclusive" models.
Some practitioners in the luxury industry said that in Hermes, the more cost-effective the product, the higher the distribution value.
Therefore, we will see that Hermes often launches some outrageously priced products, such as a bicycle for 165,000 yuan, a globe for 140,000 yuan, a windmill for 36,000 yuan, a garbage can for 76,000 yuan, a spoon for more than 5,000 yuan, a fly swatter for 3,000 yuan, a tissue box for 7,000 yuan, and so on.
▶ Source: Weibo
These goods at sky-high prices in the eyes of ordinary people, rich women will not be soft to buy, because this is one step closer to them buying bags.
But just like Pinduoduo, which never ends, rich women are always one step away from achieving "consumption accumulation". The situation of "distribution without bag" also occurs from time to time in Hermes stores in China.
In August 2021, in just one month, Hermès was twice protested by consumers in stores in China, and a Shanghai consumer said that after buying a product of 150,000 yuan under the hint of a salesperson, he still could not get the desired Constance handbag.
In January this year, a lady in Ningbo broke the news through 1818 Golden Eye that she had bought more than 1.4 million yuan in Hermes stores in half a year, including 60,008 necklaces, 1,900 yuan cups, 17,000 kennels, etc., but she still could not reach the distribution quota, and was treated coldly by the salesperson.
▶ Source: Weibo @1818GoldenEye
03, the "flower of kaolin" in the luxury jewelry industry
Letting the rich spend a lot of money is probably something that only luxury brands can do.
It's no wonder that many people's career aspirations are to work as salespeople in luxury brand stores, because you can not take rich women seriously, even the big stars.
Actor Zhang Xinyi once complained on the show that she once took a fancy to a leather coat in a luxury store and wanted the clerk to take it down and try it, but the other party directly asked "Do you want to buy it?"
Under Zhang Xinyi's repeated requests, the other party took down the leather coat, and when Zhang Xinyi said "so expensive", the clerk said very indifferently, "What do you think?"
▶ Source: Internet
I don't know which luxury brand Zhang Xinyi is talking about, but it is Hermes that really doesn't take the star seriously.
In recent years, in order to increase sales and boost growth, many luxury brands have begun to put down their figures, settle in e-commerce channels, and start live streaming.
Only Hermes, which has always been like a kaolin flower, chooses to be lonely and self-appreciative, and never kitsch.
Such a high coldness allowed Hermes to avoid the danger of the spokesperson's collapse. Especially when Prada fell into the curse of bad spokesperson, Hermes said coldly, don't want me to overturn on the spokesperson.
Hermes naturally has such confidence.
You must know that even if you don't spend money on celebrity endorsements, there are not a few celebrities in the entertainment industry who are willing to be Hermes' "wild spokespersons".
For example, Hong Kong actress Anita Yuen is well known for her madness with Hermes, and the total value of her Hermes collection at home is more than 20 million. Actresses such as Guan Xiaotong, Zhang Yuqi, and Angelababy have all gone out on the street with Chanel bags.
Hermès' practice of not inviting spokespersons also further demonstrates the brand's sense of dignity and value.
When Chanel, Louis Vuitton, and Dior did not hesitate to bow to the traffic, dividing celebrity business cooperation into various levels such as brand spokespersons, brand ambassadors, and brand friends, Hermes, who stood at the top of the chain of contempt, looked down on their operations, and then accepted the worship of the majority of "horse breeders".
▶ Source: Hermes official WeChat
According to the data, even in 2023, when global luxury consumption is sluggish, Hermes' revenue will still reach 13.427 billion euros, a year-on-year increase of 21% (at constant exchange rates), and its net profit will be 4.311 billion euros, a year-on-year increase of 28%.
It's just that the distribution system is still the biggest minefield for Hermès.
Consumers are complaining, rich women are excited, once the rich are not willing to pay for this kind of consumption trap, can the head of Hermes be so arrogant?
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