3 questions for . . . Senior Advisor, Galeries Lafayette Group

‘In today’s businesses you have to bring in people who are agile, who operate off the beaten path, and who think outside of the box’.

Michel Roulleau is Senior Advisor to the Galeries Lafayette Group President and a luxury sector and retail expert. He shares with us his vision of tomorrow’s department stores and their relationships with international challenges, new technologies, and customer services.

The Galeries Lafayette Department Store Division (with BHV Marais includes two names and 60 stores) holds 60 percent of French department store market shares. What is your next step?

The next step for department stores is to go international. There are many like Harrods or Bloomingdales which are known around the world, but very few today have a brand name that’s strong enough to export. A little under 15 years ago, we opened our first test site in Berlin to see how our concept and DNA would function and to learn what should be adapted to local culture. Today we have five stores outside of France (Berlin, Casablanca, Dubai, Jakarta and Beijing) and three others in the planning stage (Milan, Doha, Istanbul). Department stores as they exist in their home countries are difficult to transpose to other locales. You have to adapt to each culture.

In Dubai, for example, the market is already monopolized by luxury brands. Additionally, there is practically no winter, and women wear long gowns to go out at night. Not every brand will find its place there. In Beijing, the clientele is young and hungry for fashion but doesn’t necessarily have the resources to enjoy luxury. You have to grab their attention very quickly with a rapid turnover of accessible brands.

Promotional events are also important; some translate easily to other countries, such as the 3J Sales or ‘Le Plus Grand Défilé du Monde’ (The World’s Biggest Fashion Show). But you can’t present a kimono festival in Dubai, can you [laughs]? The Galeries Lafayette also defines itself as an international fashion melting pot. Our role is to present niche brands in order to create special events and get our clients’ attention. In fact, tomorrow’s store will have to continuously surprise their clients while still providing them with services. This is a clientele that travels a lot. They have to recognize us immediately wherever they may be. And at the same time we have to be able to tell Mr. Martin that, since he’s in Istanbul, our on-site personal shopper can show him some Turkish brands he will like.

So tomorrow’s store will make optimal use of new technologies to best meet client demands?

In the past we said that products and designers created fashion. Today we have to admit that marketing must be part of every fashion design. And marketing implies client expectations. Are they ready to accept a certain colour? Are they ready to spend that amount? In this respect, price has become a determining factor. Today, thanks to Internet, consumers can compare and judge. We should also be on Internet and use e-commerce. But we have to carry over our dimension as a fashion leader in these new platforms, so editorial content has become important.

As far as brick and mortar stores, they’ll obviously integrate this digital approach. Connected stores will become the norm to satisfy the desires of a generation born with technology. And the examples we cite now, such as Burberry or Apple, will represent the ‘bare minimum’. I’m one of the many today who believe physical stores will continue to exist, because consumers enjoyer trying on clothing and touching products. Look what’s happening at Apple. Fans go to the store. Why? Because the salespeople are very knowledgeable about the brand and they share tips about the products. The clients are talking to people who like the same things they do. In this area, we need for the salesperson’s role to evolve. Unfortunately, in France we’re not the best in this category. Our sales people are not always empathetic enough with clients, which is not the case in the United States or Japan. Helping clients is not degrading; selling is a real human relations activity. Luxury labels understand this and take a different stance.

So the foundations for tomorrow’s stores are: a wide, international dimension; digital excellence; and data that improves customer satisfaction. That seems simple in the end?

I heard the acronym ‘VUCA’ two years ago. It stands for volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity, and it describes our current economic environment. In the past we created 10-year plans. Today it’s impossible to define strategies for the next five years. It’s difficult to know what method you’ll use to pay for tomorrow’s purchases. Every level of society functions under the ‘right now’ rule. A film comes out and is a hit. But if you see it two weeks later, you’re not cool. We have to continuously learn, understand, and act quickly. We have to keep reinventing ourselves. I’m convinced that if the second half of the 20th century belonged to women, the 21st century will belong to young people. Before, seniors were the experts in their fields. Today, young people born with a tablet in their hands know all the shortcuts. They’re our opposites; they started being a consumer on Internet and then went into stores. The retail world has been shook up by the Y generation, as has the working world . . . .

As my President often says, we have to mutate from being dinosaurs to chameleons. We have to become very flexible and agile and recruit new talents. Old-style organisations are a thing of the past. Could all of these enormous Web business have sprung from traditional organisations? I don’t think so. In today’s business, you have to bring in people who function off the beaten path. We need right brain thinkers, creative minds, and entrepreneurs who aren’t afraid to take different approaches, even it means making mistakes and trying other new ways.