The impact of the e-Commerce on the sustainable performance of retail stores: a focus on the fashion luxury industry

Abstract

The luxury journey was and still remains about immerging the clients into the brand’s own universe, they just had new tools to achieve this. Dominated by the mono-brand and multi-brand stores, the online channels quickly made a place for themselves in the luxury market, giving customers the option of having their experience offline or not. The sector never stopped growing over time, attracting more clients and countries each year. With the globalization, luxury brand had to find a way to stay relevant. That’s where the omnichannel approach came through: proposing a seamless experience to the customers where all channels are connected and deliver the same services. The pandemic that occurred in 2020 forced many luxury brands to tap into their digital side, unlocking some new ways of selling the products and many opportunities to thrive online thanks to their social media and websites. But the future of physical stores became a concern for many luxury brands. In this thesis, we will analyze if the offline channels in the luxury industry could continue to thrive in this digital era.