French management school HEC organized on 1st of October an exclusive talk with Ian Rogers, Head of Digital for LVMH. IADS reports the highlights of this exclusive conversation for which no recording was allowed.

What

LVMH CDO answering HEC alumni questions, brining key insights on 2 topics:

• How LVMH addressed its digital transformation (at a moment when some of our members are doing the same)
• Evaluate how IADS members can gear their relationship with the luxury group in the future

Why is it important for IADS members

• Going digital is not a technological step but shall be considered as a deeply transformational organization change, led by the CEO to address his/her vision. The right organization does not have a digital leader, the right organization is digital, with appropriate KPIs and incentives redesigned and applied to the whole organization. Create a digital silo to suppress previously existing silos is a dangerous temptation: what prevails is the CEO vision on what should be the customer experience. To note: time is crucial, as there is a premium to whom starts the earliest, as this allows to make mistakes and test many options.
• Innovation shall address a limited number of topics. At LVMH there are 4 pillars:

o    Omnichannel commerce transformation

o    Clienteling and remote selling (including data ownership)

o    Data and artificial intelligence in pricing, collectioning and store merchandising

o    Chinese ecosystem

• In the future, LVMH plans to reap all the margin possible by establishing a direct relationship with customers, and will only keep relationships with wholesalers enjoying 2 competitive advantages: a faithful and dedicated customer base, and a true added value in terms of customer experience. This is where at IADS we believe Department Stores have a winning card in their sleeves.

Full IADS report - Digitalization according to LVMH and key learnings