Longchamp set to boost instore experience

The opening of its new flagship store in London in October

will coincide with Longchamp boosting the in-store experience for customers through greater use of its multi-channel CRM capabilities.

Speaking at the Cegid Connections 2013 Conference in Venice Andre Louit, group chief financial officer at Longchamp, said: "It's the beginning of using CRM [for us] with baby step after baby step. We're using the customer database to email customers so that when they then go to a store they'll be recognised and a pop-up will appear on the PoS (Point-of-Sale) to say they've received the email."

When this is combined with the likes of customer purchase histories and the ability to offer them tailored promotions at the till then it will be a powerful tool for Longchamp. However, Louit recognises that such technology is only of value in-store if the employees are fully trained.

"If you do not train them properly, by increasing the awareness of digital and getting them to interact with customers, then it will be very difficult [in the future]. Customer service is going to be more and more of a key. Otherwise, like any other business, the store is just a showroom," he warns.

Louit says the company is also due to begin experimenting with new technologies in specific countries with a view to rolling out the most successful initiatives to its stores around the world. "In the US there is a push to implement a gift card solution and if it works then we'll roll out. It all depends on the maturity of each market," he says.