Ch. 17 - Personal Selling and Sales Management

Louboutin stores lean on relationship selling to keep their customers happy and coming back. The brand Christian Louboutin speaks for itself, because of their high-quality products & elite-clientele you'd think, and call it somewhat stereotypical, that they would be snobby & treat only the customers of the higher class with the utmost best care.

Thankfully to us normal people this is not the case. Given the ramp in demand from woman of all classes from ages 17-55 the Louboutin brand has come to understand the classic saying "don't judge a book by its cover". Online reviews show that Louboutin stores are very welcoming and actually accommodated anyone in less than 5 mins. Some call that high-quality service! 

Because every design and every stores foot size is different, their relationship selling is on point. The sales associate establishes a relationship with the customer and continue that relationship to keep that customer coming back even after the purchase. Most good Sales Associated will contact their cutomers to let them know when a new collection has arrived. I tried the Louboutin experience this past weekend for the sake of the blog, and who am I kidding, for the sake of myself as well. I want to say it was magical. Could it be because I love shoes, maybe? But the experience made me feel like a princess, even after not walking out with a pair, and so I bought in to what the brand ultimately sells "a feeling."

I entered the Madison store and the store was just as I had read up it would be. It was no surprise, but the smell was indescribable, even after I left it was still locked in for a couple of blocks. It was no surprise there was a lot of red, everywhere! I was immediately greeted by a boutique employee, Leslie, and asked if I needed help. After advising her on the style I was interested in she measured my foot and brought out a size smaller, the actual size, and a size bigger. I would have needed to purchase the size smaller due to my thin feet. After at least a 10 minute conversation on how i liked the shoes, the fit, the comfort, and my guilt setting in knowing I wasn't going to buy the shoe, I told her I needed a little bit more time before committing to a $1,200 purchase. She understood, and gave me her business card. Had I purchased a shoe they would have gotten all my information, including my email address, and as some reviewers have expressed they would have contacted me directly for future purchases.     

Ch. 14 - Marketing Channels and Retailing

Normally, to purchase a new season Louboutin shoe, you would have to make your way to one of the shoe designers glamorous eccentric boutiques. Boutiques, not a regular shoes store, because the word boutiques screams glamor, elegance, and even prestige. But now, thankfully, you no longer need to spend hours in a huge queue outside one of the many Louboutin stores like the one in Paris shops to buy these amazing shoes. The famous designer has decided to open his first boutique within a department store in France – the Printemps Haussmann. In addition to all the convenience and impeccable services you receive at Printemps in Paris, you can, like a queen, have all styles from the legendary designer, literally at your feet!

70 sqm is dedicated to the brand, in a Parisian paradise of fashion. Where customers are offered with a friendly and fascinating experience, where architecture, art, and fashion merge into a single space specially created by famous customer experience design company, Household. And to anyone's pleasure, the result is definitely always there. In fact, all of Louboutin's boutiques offer the same elegant and to some point extravagant retail experience, they offer and celebrate Louboutin’s theatricality, offering the customer a unique shopping experience. When walking in to a Louboutin store you can expect anything from velvet upholstery, extensive woodwork, re-imagined famous landmarks, deep tones, scarlet colour palettes, and arched niches in which shoe collections are displayed. All reminiscent of a stage set design, creating a feeling of suspended reality. In the end, even if you don't fall into the designers target market of high income fashionistas, you can always struddle yourself into one of his luxurious boutiques and dream! The space definitely allows you to! And if you can afford a trip to France..... well there' s always e-shopping.

Ch. 6 Consumer Decision Making

Christian Louboutin has said it himself. Red attracts, that's it. People are like bulls and bulls like red! Does this have an impact in consumer decision making while purchasing his product? I believe so. While his iconic red sole came from a nail polish, most will agree its the PERFECT color red. Louboutin uses visual stimuli to attract. But what can consumers really expect from this brand besides the image of luxury, a pair of Louboutins is nothing more than a luxurious trademark. I believe people and mainly woman go about wanting a pair of Louboutin's for a very long time, making the process of actual decision making to purchase an extensive one.

The decision to finally invest in a pair is methodical and well thought out to the average person except for a higher social class "the overly rich"  who can curiously walk into a store and make an impromptu decision to leave the store with a pair. Do social influences affect this?  I would say yes! Who wears Louboutin's on a regular basis, celebrities? I'd call that the hierarchy of social influences! Who better sets and influences trends and styles besides celebrities. Take Kloe Kardashian, she happily shares her closet on social media, proudliy owning more than 100 pairs of Louboutins.

Ch. 5 - Developing a Global Vision

Global Vision – Marketing experts all agree that having a global vision means that your product is not only trying to impact the city, state, or country, but the whole world. Products like Apple, Coca Cola, Mc Donalds, Disney, and Google, among others, are all up there in terms of Global Vision. They are all easily and generally recognized around the world. The same goes for that shiny sleek red bottom sole. Even if you can’t pronounce the name, the bottom red of the shoe will always ring a bell in anyone’s memory. Over the last 20 years Chistian Louboutins creations have ruled red carpets and adorned the feet of the world's most famous and fashionable women.

Louboutin has stated “he does not believe in advertising and marketing his brand, nor does he need to, because his collection itself speaks out loudly.” Why is Louboutin so popular, it’s because of his crazy designs, be it studded, jewel encrusted, feather topped, or just patently sexy that boosts the wearer’s sense of self. For Twenty years, French Designer Christian Louboutin’s red soles have stamped an inimitable mark on the world of fashion and shoe making. Currently targeting 14+ global markets, Louboutin took what was generally an overlooked part of the shoe—the sole—and colored it red, sending women into a frenzy suddenly making shoes one of the most coveted parts of a woman’s wardrobe. He sells more than 700,000 pairs of his signature red soled shoes annually.

Middle East

According to Women’s Wear Daily Louboutins annual sales volume estimated over $300 million, Louboutin’s company is still privately owned, something which helps him retain creative control over the brand. I believe the numbers speak for his success, he has over 96 stores worldwide and is growing rapidly. The bulk of sales are still concentrated in the west, but demand from luxury markets in the east is catching up quickly. He has opened 13 stores in the Middle East in the last two years, with shoes flying off the shelves and they cannot keep up with the demand. Two years ago Louboutin launched his men’s collection, which already makes up almost a quarter of all sales.

Campaign in the NEW store in India

But this has not stopped Mr. Louboutin from continuing to globalize his brand. The shoemaker has already opened his first exclusive showroom in New Delhi and another in India. He states that it’s because he has a connection with the city, I want to say his marketing team are made up of geniuses! This is because the per capita consumption of shoes in India has gone up from 1.1 shoes a year in 2011 to about 2.5 shoes per year and the Indian footwear industry is growing at a compound annual growth rate of about 15% given that Indian woman dress more conservative there is a big market for shoe swag.  

Whether inspired by French glamour, or influenced by haute couture and have a dash of fanciful energy stolen from the 80s, his footwear line is loved by all women who love to be fashionable. In India, New Delhi, China, Egypt and the US, women rule the fashion market and they love those shiny bottoms.