Richemont is paying attention to its customers

Compagnie Financière Richemont SA (CFRHF) is a luxury goods company founded in 1988 by South African businessman Johann Rupert - someone worth lots of study. Among the brands carried, CFRHF carries Cartier as well as Peter Millar. Recently, as Kering-owned Gucci has struggled with the Chinese market, CFRHF, or Richemont as its called, has moved forward in concert with Hermes and LVMUY.

Interestingly, I have personally found similar adeptness in their US operations. For example, I have been a long-time Loro Piana (LP) shopper, preferring their high quality fabrics and simple design. However, their prices have seemed increasingly outlandish - somewhat on a Hermes-type scale. Suddenly I got a call from my favorite LP sales person and she shared that she had moved to Peter Millar.

At first glance, I was not impressed. Their clothing looked more like professional golfer's. Not a bad look, but not me. Then, on further study, I saw that they had similar designs to LP. In addition, Peter Millar had a wider range of fabrics - particularly helpful with the hot Texas weather that LP fabrics are largely ineffective on. Then I got to the best part - the price. On shoes, pants, jackets and shirts, the prices were consistently at least 2/3rds lower than LPs! Now I just walk by LP and check out Peter Millar. With their strong sales growth, I'm not alone.

Another example was Cartier. Recently I had a special birthday present need so I just decided to see what Cartier had available.  I got to the door and it said "appointment only." I thought "what a bunch of crap. COVID is long past." But I went in and put myself down for an appointment. About 15 minutes later, my phone rang and I went for my appointment. I had a session with a multi-decade Cartier veteran who gave me unlimited time and attention and I did make a purchase. I asked her about the appointment thing and she said that CFRHF had learned that tire-kickers dilute the personal educational shopping experience. She shared that most of the reason we had so much time together was because of that appointment policy. It seems like that is where more and more retail goes as "defund the police" and shrinkage issues affect retailers. CFRHF had made a "stepping stone" of a new selling approach from the "stumbling block" of COVID protocols.