When it launched in June, 24 Sèvres was being called LVMH's first foray into the e-commerce space, but
that's not actually the case. In 2014, the fashion powerhouse created a site called Moët Hennessy
Collection, where it sold fancy liquor and wines such as Dom Perignon, Moët & Chandon, Cloudy Bay,
Cape Mentelle and Hennessy. That, however, was abruptly shut down roughly two years later, with the
company saying that it was "a global decision around how we evolve our brand in the digital space."
Goguey wouldn't talk about what lessons, if any, the company learned from that failure, but he sounds
confident that the fate of 24 Sèvres will be different.
Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst at research firm NPD, says one of the reasons LVMH may not want to
work with Amazon is brand appearance and exclusivity. "Somebody who's going to buy LVMH product
would almost prefer to go to an LVMH website, unless they're going to be able to get it at such a great
discount somewhere else. That doesn't benefit LVMH either, so it makes sense for them to operate on their
own," he says. It sounds petty, but chances are that 24 Sèvres core customers don't want to get a $4,000
garment from Amazon. "It's imagery, it's prestige, it's accessibility," Cohen says. "I don't want to buy an
expensive luxury item and be one of a million people. I want to be one in a million.“
It's too early to tell whether 24 Sèvres will be a hit, but Goguey says that the response from shoppers so far
has been "incredibly positive" and that they're "thrilled" to have a digital counterpart to the iconic Le Bon
Marché retail store. "Their success is going to depend on the ability to resonate with the consumer," Cohen
says, "to help them understand what the essence of the product is, why this is the right product to buy.
They're going to have to deliver on that promise and the expectations."
One thing 24 Sèvres already has going for it is that it looks different than most shopping sites out there right
now, thanks to big, beautiful imagery on the home and product pages. Goguey says this is meant to
make you feel like you're window-shopping at high-end stores, whether it be in Paris or New York City. And,
really, a well-designed site is the least you should expect when you're about to spend thousands of dollars
on a handbag.