Bag Production Post-C-Virus

[Justlikewhatilike]

These loyal clients are spending minimum 1-1 some up to 4-1 and still no offer this year. I understand that if new clients are spending significantly more they should get priority.

Perhaps it’s smoke and mirrors with people sharing on fb or ig or YouTube but new clients seem to be forthcoming of their spend and they’re getting bag offers on neutrals with little spend. i know one woman at a boutique who got a b30 gold on gold this year with just a 1:1 spend. That was a bit shocking given which boutique. Here is another example but there are plenty others on YouTube.

Thank you for your sharing. If loyal clients are spending similarly to new clients if not more, then it is most likely they do value new clients more than loyal clients.

So the value of loyalty to Hermes is also questionable.

 

[SDC2003]

…and many of the bags aren’t even authentic…

Yes very true and yes watching these videos is toxic and I stopped doing that a few weeks ago!

 

[cravin]

In business, there is a premium on what we call "new logos" meaning that we were able to close a large deal with a company that hadn't done business with us before. I do not see why it would and should be any different in retail. Once the wife got her first Birkin, her spend with Hermes increased significantly because of her infatuation with the brand. Hermes has an established clientele that has an expectation of buying what they want and being offered quota bags whenever they think it time. I would challenge that new customers will probably spend more money than an established customer for their first couple years so that makes for good business. I'm not talking resellers, I'm talking about new customers.

 

[Justlikewhatilike]

In business, there is a premium on what we call "new logos" meaning that we were able to close a large deal with a company that hadn't done business with us before. I see why it would and should be any different in retail. Once the wife got her first Birkin, her spend with Hermes increased significantly because of her infatuation with the brand. Hermes has an established clientele that has an expectation of buying what they want and being offered quota bags whenever they think it time. I would challenge that new customers will probably spend more money than an established customer for their first couple years so that makes for good business. I'm not talking resellers, I'm talking about new customers.

Definitely. I’m sure sales targets could also include new clients for the stores.

 

[FaubourgTropical]

If I may offer another perspective, it’s also simple competition for resources: water, medicine, clean air, food, land, jobs, etc. There may not be less bags but people who ask for them are increasing. Simply because, there are more people on earth (new wealth, increasing disposable income, new generation, etc).

COVID just exacerbates the problem. Anecdotally, out of the blue, I looked at H in 2020 when it was before not in my radar at all as I have this extra disposable income that I used to allocate for holidays. I too play the game as a new comer (disguised as the love for the brand, of course).

I see it will just get worse and rules will change, but people adapt and the brand survive. As much as I too do not like that my 'loyalty' is thrown away, this is just life. IMHO.

 

[Justlikewhatilike]

So there is no so-called loyalty. Just whether you have spent enough and whether you are their target group.

Nothing to stop loyal clients from being new all over again at another store and/or with another SA.

 

[cravin]

So there is no so-called loyalty. Just whether you have spent enough and whether you are their target group.

Nothing to stop loyal clients from being new all over again at another store and/or with another SA.

Unless you’re paying cash with a fake ID, you’ll be in the computer system. Also, loyal customers get plenty of quota bags. I’m just saying that selling some to new customers is probably part of the SMs decision making.

 

[FaubourgTropical]

So there is no so-called loyalty. Just whether you have spent enough and whether you are their target group.

Nothing to stop loyal clients from being new all over again at another store and/or with another SA.

oh, I agree. I read 'brand loyalty' preached often here as a euphemism for spending. It’s not possible to prove my theory as obviously no one is revealing how much they spend but I think we can read between the lines.

Loyal customers get quota bags but this ‘across the brand love' extends to things such as fine jewellery, RTW and homewares which to me can be better sourced somewhere else. Again anecdotally, my 'love for the brand' consists of a few SLGs and maybe a mug, even though I visit every few months. I am not really that naive to believe that I am considered loyal. It’s a business afterall. I am simply not their target customer. But yeah, it can hurt as evidenced in this forum when anyone on the internet can get the bag, but not us.

I stop now as it’s get OOT

 

[ladysarah]

I am not really getting the panic about Kelly & birkin famine.

Let’s say - hypothetically- one is a ‘loyal’ customer )and has been so 10 years. ) That’s over 20 bags just from ‘quota’ not to mention a la carte, getting lucky while traveling etc. To me that sounds like more than enough bags (too many actually) to comfortably sit out a season or two. After all the bags are timeless- they looked the same 10 years ago.

 

[Justlikewhatilike]

I am not really getting the panic about Kelly & birkin famine.

Let’s say - hypothetically- one is a ‘loyal’ customer )and has been so 10 years. ) That’s over 20 bags just from ‘quota’ not to mention a la carte, getting lucky while traveling etc. To me that sounds like more than enough bags (too many actually) to comfortably sit out a season or two. After all the bags are timeless- they looked the same 10 years ago.

Of course, no issue for the lack of bags to carry. The only issue about spending but not getting a bag for a longer period of time is that the SA May leave the store. Definitely the purchase history is there. But will the new SA be willing to offer a bag without more purchases? Or it would be need a talk with the store manager. By then, it’s really a lot of extra efforts to exert.

 

[SDC2003]

There are also loyal clients who didn’t ask for or weren’t offered two quota bags a year due to shopping at competitive boutiques. Let’s say you have a client who’s been shopping for five years but really also didn’t think about quota bags until a couple years into shopping at the boutique. I don’t see loyalty as exclusively about time spent being a client. Of course it’s a factor but not the only one. For the clients who’ve shopped a while and have acquired their two quota bags each year and don’t mind waiting that is much appreciated by those who would are still building their collection!

 

[FaubourgTropical]

There are also loyal clients who didn’t ask for or weren’t offered two quota bags a year due to shopping at competitive boutiques. Let’s say you have a client who’s been shopping for five years but really also didn’t think about quota bags until a couple years into shopping at the boutique. I don’t see loyalty as exclusively about time spent being a client. Of course it’s a factor but not the only one. For the clients who’ve shopped a while and have acquired their two quota bags each year and don’t mind waiting that is much appreciated by those who would are still building their collection!

is there such unicorns in this world? Have you met these mythical creatures? kidding…… I see what you mean.

 

[Benihana]

All of what has been written rings true to me (in the past month, I've been to H stores in three states - one was my home store and two others were with friends who wanted a shopping companion) and there are empty display shelves everywhere

BUT I will say that I went to Madison last week and saw 4 quota bags being offered. One was a noir k25, another was a dark color k28. This was out in the open too, which probably means the VIP rooms were already being used. That was very surprising to me given my experience this year and what I've read here. Now it's clear to me how a shopper's experience truly differs depending on what store you go to. And maybe this is adding to the frustration where people see quota bags coming in at other stores and therefore do not believe their SAs when they truthfully say they are out of bags.

 

[DrawitraLoveHermes]

All of what has been written rings true to me (in the past month, I've been to H stores in three states - one was my home store and two others were with friends who wanted a shopping companion) and there are empty display shelves everywhere

BUT I will say that I went to Madison last week and saw 4 quota bags being offered. One was a noir k25, another was a dark color k28. This was out in the open too, which probably means the VIP rooms were already being used. That was very surprising to me given my experience this year and what I've read here. Now it's clear to me how a shopper's experience truly differs depending on what store you go to. And maybe this is adding to the frustration where people see quota bags coming in at other stores and therefore do not believe their SAs when they truthfully say they are out of bags.

Madison always has bags to offer to vvvvip.

 

[QuelleFromage]

This is what I am seeing:

There are fewer bags. It is not crisis level, but it is more than noticeable.

The big flagships are still getting good shipments (not just France, but, say, Madison). They have a lot of B/K/etc bags. But still possibly not as many as usual.

Management has changed something about how they prioritize offers...I can't tell if it's spend or new client preference or something else, but I hear too many stories of people who could get a Birkin or Kelly whenever they wanted, and now that has changed. I haven't asked for anything in a long time but an exotic mini K (yeah I know hahahahahaha, laugh me out of the room), since I have relative "purse peace" and an SO in progress, but I get a distinct and clear sense it's rougher out there.

Now let's look at reality:

Hermès wasn't hurt economically by COVID as far as both their reports and anecdotal information indicate - in fact it appears to be quite the opposite. Direct SA quote: "As soon as people could shop, they were buying like the world was ending". So if there is a real bag shortage it's because of ateliers closing in lockdown. I don't have data on that but I am sure someone does.

There will always, always, always be influencers posting their bags and their "journeys". Please, do not let this feel hurtful. There's a scary amount of fake bags in those videos (this is not new). I wouldn't be shocked if they were the majority. Remember that the most famous superfake maker (I hope I'm not violating TOS here, but this is easily available information) has their own dedicated factory. This isn't a small thing. Do NOT believe everything you see.

Our world will normalize. In the meantime, if we can not compare ourselves to manufactured social media, we stay happy and work with what we have. So there are fewer bags for a year or two.....it's ok. Life is long.