"inside luxury fashion CX"- W Maud Lagarde (Louis Vuitton)

Maud Lagarde: Yeah. And I think, well, what you're looking for when you're going to the retail and so to be emerged into like an ambiance, like something like uh, you can feel uh, something uh, you know, beautiful. Uh, and at the same time if you're thinking about customer perspective, you need to adapt locally with such a, I

Co-host: guess with such a prestigious brand, you've got a lot of history and a lot of brand presence globally, maintaining and moving that brand forward, how to translate

Maud Lagarde: your values and what you want to say to your customers, um, through all the details that you may have uh, on your digital platform.

Elysia: Welcome back to the CX Insider podcast. I'm your host Elysia and today we're joined by a very special guest straight from Paris this morning, Maud Lagarde, who is the global client development and customer experience manager at Louis Vuitton. Welcome to the podcast.

Maud Lagarde: Yeah, thank you for having me. That's great.

Elysia: Perfect. So maybe we can set the tone of the interview with you just telling us a little bit about yourself and your career journey.

Maud Lagarde: Sure. So for now um, I consider myself as like an expert in digital consumer experience and especially in luxury because I've been like working at Louis Vuitton for six years now and before that I worked for several different tech companies, uh, six years or so in Paris, like agency consulting firms. Which is uh, interesting for me is really that my philosophy with digital is rooted into customer experience. So I've been really since the beginning, since I'm grading it, really uh, focusing on how to be more uh, customer experience centered uh, with all the project and the brand I've worked with. So that's really something important for me. And at the same time uh, I am graduated for a lot of different things so including an art history diploma. So it's really something I guess like atypical and project management for digital of course at the university and at the same time I did like an executive master in a famous uh, business school in Paris uh, two years ago. And yeah, at Louis Vuitton, uh, I am uh, working uh, there since 2000 uh, nine. So I've been operation manager uh, for a while there for a creative department which were like amazing to understand better all the company, the strategy and after I just step into a uh, more digital uh, customer experience role which is my specialty.

Elysia: Well that leads perfectly into our first topic then. So what do you think the biggest operational challenges are for luxury brands and especially within maybe post Covid or high growth contexts.

Maud Lagarde: In this moment, just after Covid, we had a lot of Change, uh, that happen. So I mean especially for luxury. So at the same time we have a shift from generation with younger customers that are coming to the market for luxury items. Uh also we have more and more people that are coming to E Commerce, uh, that just rise a lot with COVID and then became a habit, I mean for most people, uh, going from, I don't know, like uh, mobile purchases for example. Uh, people are changing behavior at the same time. Uh, they are more and more um, wanting to have experience on digital that are really, really high end, really good because the standards are really high now. So they expected to have something very fluid, uh, to have something without any friction. So it's really important because now we just be uh, able to see with customers that retail experience is really really good and really appreciated. But digital not so much even for the biggest brand.

Elysia: Mhm.

Maud Lagarde: And what the brands need to remember is that even if you have like, I don't know, like 92% of the customers are coming to retail for purchases in luxury, half of the people have been like on digital before. So it's really important to just not think that digital is just like something you may have on the side just to uh, add uh, something to your main retail experience, but really something globally like what we call omnichannel. Actually and especially one point that I may add is that as you may know luxury projects are quite expensive. So people are, I don't know, like a bit more um, willing to have a greater experience as well because they want to have a very premium luxury service as well. So and as a brand you maybe uh, make a difference between the retail experience and the digital one because you are um, structured this way internally. But really if you think as a customer it's something once again which is global. So as a customer you may not do the difference between uh, the retail. The digital is something that you just want to buy a bag so you have to be good like every time, all the time. The touch, paint.

Elysia: I actually have quite an off the cuff question from that. Do you feel that customers prefer an in person experience rather than a remote experience? Especially within luxury brands? I know that the in person experience is a really high level. Is that kind of met on remote as well?

Maud Lagarde: Yeah. So what we observe is that people really prefer to come in person because for now retail is just exceptional for luxury. Uh, you might remember the glass of champagne, you may remember that you have a nice sales visor that uh, tells you about the brand storytelling and everything. And the place is beautiful, everything is really nice.

Elysia: It's an experience.

Maud Lagarde: Exactly. It's complete experience for all your senses. And what digital is missing is that it's really visual for the moment. You cannot have this full experience. But once again, um, if I answer yes to this question and say that people are preferring like retail, uh, I just really don't want because my philosophy really based on this digital customer experience that brands understand that you have to take digital really uh, into account globally because remote is sometimes a necessity. Um, and as I just as you may know, if you are uh, in the US you may not have access to a store just next to your home. So uh, basically uh, for some people on the planet, because we send like globally, uh, and worldwide, you may uh, buy uh, your items uh, remotely. Mhm. So it's something really important about operational challenges. Um, maybe the one that I put uh, first for a brand uh, that want to consider. Uh again the strategy is really um, well to put like a customer centric culture um into uh, you know, the teams and the strategy and the vision of the, of the brand. I think something really important because for now it's something that is um, not usual in the luxury sector. I guess. Uh, we are really centered on the product and the excellence of the product, the craftsmanship which is good of course. But uh, really this approach that the tech company understand, uh, for years uh, like Google and Facebook and Apple is really to think as a customer to be able to be better in terms of uh, service. And I think uh, this customer centric mindset should be uh, really deeply rooted uh into the teams as well. Because I m know that the temptation could be really high to just impose that in a uh, strategic plan or just uh, a guideline vision. But I think you really need to uh, train the teams to understand what is a ah, customer centric approach like design thinking and how does it work to change your mindset and your perspective. Mhm. To think as a customer also about operational challenges. One I saw sometimes is the difference between innovation and what we call it legacy. So it's really good to uh, do a lot of innovation because you saw a lot of generative AI and things like that on the table right now. Um, but really um, to be successful, especially on digital and omnichannel challenges, you have to keep in mind that you need to solve uh also first maybe the issues that your customer may have. Uh, I'm thinking about one in particular is that payment. So if you cannot just pay your item on the website with a credit card, which is regular and fine easily and Quickly. Mhm. It's going to be a problem really. So innovation is great and I'm sure a lot of brands are really into what's going to be next. We need to be really aware of what is going on. But also I think maybe most of people just forget that we need also to fix maybe the basics because sometimes the basics are really fundamental. Mhm.

Co-host: We talked about the factory you operate in. Is it over 40, 40 countries, a lot of countries as a brand and have presence and like I say that's a mixture of uh, digital and physical I guess location terms of physical retail. But how do you manage that global brand consistency or that consistency let's say around customer experience, where you want it to be but also I guess balance it with localization. So meeting the local, you know, local needs of a market and it might be omnichannel wise or it might be another dynamic.

Maud Lagarde: Yeah. So really as you said the goal is to keep like consistency for the brand and at the same time if you're thinking about customer perspective you need to adapt locally. So what usually uh, is uh important to keep in mind and my advice would be to have a really strong strategy and vision in central to be able to uh, have your basis really, really strong. And after that of course uh, we do a lot of collaborative work so we are doing like a lot of workshop, a lot of training, um, a lot of um, meeting as well of course. And once again um, to understand another market you need uh, to talk with the team uh that are there and to gather all the feedbacks so you can really have that customer uh vision. Uh because I think customers, not only the final clients that you're going to uh sales items too but also um, the customer that are into your brand and for example the local teams uh, that need to be involved and understood as well, uh to be able to uh, just share insights that are really valuable for the brand. And sometimes this exchange leads to uh really uh thoughtful decisions and innovation as well. Because some countries have different types of uh, way to buy things uh especially when we're speaking with digital. Uh so yeah it could be very uh interesting to have that uh, back and forward like type of strategy.

Co-host: Yeah and like you say that can play out just in the sense of how people buy the products. Like you say if it's a, it's a market that's heavy on the digital uh like buying journey let's say I guess you're going to optimize that journey as much as you can for that market. It could be Methods of payment. It could be you know, awareness and being able to process payment through different channels and um, I guess that looks very different globally. Like if you compare like how China buys your products for example versus how the US or you know, how France. Is that accurate? Is it different?

Maud Lagarde: Yeah, it's accurate. We for example in China we sell uh, through uh, what we call WeChat. Uh so it's really uh, something that is specific and you need to understand how it works. What is the best strategy to go through this type of channel and then to be able to adapt your content and the strategy you add in central to be able to, to uh, be more effective. Uh, but that is really through uh, a lot of discussion with the local teams because they are actually the expert of this type of channel.

Co-host: Yeah. Unless you're active in that method Of

Maud Lagarde: Payment or WeChat, you cannot be expert of everything.

Co-host: Yeah, exactly. Cool. Okay. Um, and I guess maybe a follow up question and is um, again you're operating over many markets. How do you measure and track success in terms of KPIs and what you see as success across all those markets, Are they the same or do those measurements of success maybe look different globally?

Maud Lagarde: No, really, um, my answer will be very simple but it's actually quite the same uh, for a simple reason is that it's better to be able to compare the things when you have the same metrics. So it's really something that we are um, just following uh straight. I couldn't maybe distinguish two different type of KPIs that are really uh, important because most of the time I think brand are focusing on the first one. So the first one will be operational excellence happens. So you have all like delivery time, stock availability, things like that. So it's pretty straightforward like revenue as we said like turnover. But that's for me just one part of uh, the success and the other one will be better focused uh on customer experience because we don't want just to a ah, customer to come at your brand to buy once and to never come back. So if you want customers to stay loyal and to create a real relationship with them, you really have to also focusing on uh, the experience they have. So in terms of nps, we talked about engagement, um, advocacy as well. So it's really things that are the big brands are looking at very carefully now as well.

Co-host: Yeah, and with such a, I guess with such a prestigious brand you've got a lot of history and a lot of brand presence globally and maintaining and moving that brand forward in every interaction Every transaction is what I guess you sort of aim to achieve and you do that by delivering great customer experience when they buy the product from you guys. So yeah, a lot of pressure on each transaction I guess.

Maud Lagarde: But actually yeah. And also it's a point which is related to we talk about local and all the different countries and um, when you have something so worldwide it's really um, very difficult to manage all the local specificity. In Tamil calendar because you have so many commercial times and events uh to just go through then as a website for example, it's just not like Christmas time. You need to be perfect on delivery time for Christmas, uh, when you have Chinese New Year, when you have Ramadan for example, you need to be perfect all the time because you have all the, during the whole year like uh, events like that now. So it's really something uh, that need to be strong uh, as a platform. One change we saw uh, also is that maybe in the past people were a little bit loyal, more loyal to the brands they bought. Uh but now with younger generation and the impact of social media and maybe the scandals and all the bad buzz that you may have online. Mhm. Really people are shifting more quickly than before from one brand to another if something is not like uh, as they like. So you being, you need to be like uh, focusing on that sort of uh, experience in services.

Elysia: Ah.

Maud Lagarde: All the time.

Co-host: That's definitely. We've had um, we've talked to people from other brands in like luxury areas where like automotive, luxury watches and I think they said something similar, similar that loyalty, it's not maybe that necessarily the loyalty is not the same. It's just like you say, it's easier to transition from you know, spending your money here to spending your money. It's easier in every dynamic whether it's your banking or it's your, you know, it's your car or it's a luxury item. It's easier isn't it today than it ever was to switch. So yeah, that's uh, that's a challenge I guess that, that every brand faces.

Elysia: Yeah, well, luxury or non luxury products and businesses, I mean with the digital transformations and the development of AI and technology advancing so much, people expect things to be perfect all the time. So uh, they're less patient to wait for mistakes and they're less patient to uh, be forgiving if you've got next day delivery and it doesn't come till the day after they so impatient, they'll just switch straight away.

Maud Lagarde: Yeah. And especially because now we have like super brand like Apple and you don't may like have anything uh here to explain how to use the iPhone and you can just pay in three click and it's okay, it's at your home. So this type of level of service is really uh, impacting the rest of um, the, the items uh process and really I think for years luxury just thought that having a website and being digital, doing digital transformation was something to consider. But it was really late comparing to other sectors. Um and now uh, they are investing a lot. But still we see through the studies that it's not matching the standards that we want to reach.

Elysia: Still that leads me perfectly into my next question which is um, kind of more faced I suppose our next topic actually as a whole which is digital transformation. Um, so how do you ensure that digital transformation doesn't dilute the heritage or the exclusivity of luxury brands?

Maud Lagarde: So we have um, many ways to do that. Um, I'm not sure I'm going to have all the answers because I think it's still something that luxury needs to think about really. Uh, it's what I call the added value of digital. And I truly believe it's not just like reproducing what we have in retail that will lead to better digital experience. Experience. Um, but if I just dip back to heritage for example and the brand identity, um, once again you need to have a very strong identity and roots uh to be very comfortable with that, with that vision, uh, to be able to reduce that and translate that to your website and all the digital platform that you may have. Um and I think it's really important to um, not just do nice pictures uh and also good brand content but m also to have a strong visual identity. Ah for example for your website.

Elysia: Hm.

Maud Lagarde: Uh because I saw too much website from luxury brand that are just looking exactly the same. You just change the logo and change like the type of clothing, of bags that are like present showed um, uh into the website and basically you won't be able to sell if it's something or something else. It's really like I mean so I understand the very clean aesthetics that we put uh, on digital these days.

Elysia: Hm.

Maud Lagarde: But really I think one thing uh, that is important to be uh, true to your roots and your story is really to think that about how do you translate your values and what you want to say to your customers um, through all the details that you may have uh, on your digital platforms.

Elysia: 100%. I mean everyone seems to have this sort of like you said, the clean minimalistic uh website. But it's exactly as you said, trying to stick to that trend, you might lose your own identity and actually become less distinguishable. And I suppose you lose that kind of. I suppose a lot of luxury brands kind of have Italian roots, don't they? But with sticking with like minimalistic website features, maybe you losing the Italian culture or the things like that.

Maud Lagarde: Yeah. And I think well what you're looking for when you're going to do retail and so to be emerged into like an ambiance, like something like uh, you can feel something uh, you know, beautiful. Uh, so if you go to a website that have no soul, basically you cannot expect to have a great experience in my opinion, 100%. And if I, I'm just going back to exclusivity. Uh, we have many ways to uh, to do that for luxury. To give you some example, we can use uh, the digital platforms as a uh, way to launch special uh, items drops for example. So items that are uh, just sold just through digital channels like an exclusive project, like a limited edition for example. And also we have certain type of, of products that are not actually

Elysia: sell

Maud Lagarde: um, on digital or uh, just even show. So to give you an example, Chanel just remove all the bags, uh, so you cannot just check on the website all the colors, variation, all the different type of um, bags that you may have in store. Um, well I think it's for them a strategy to preserve that kind of exclusivity and tell to the customer that you have to come to the boutique to be able to see exactly what you're going to have. Um, at Louis Vuitton. And for other brands like Cartier for example, uh, you may have more of the catalog product on the website but some of the items, especially for very high price items, you're not going to be able to buy uh, them on the website. Um, because I don't know for 10,000 like necklace for example, it's such a small amount of people that are buying that. So we just decided that maybe it just don't fit like a digital experience as we imagine it for the moment. And there is also um, another type of items that are not in the website and on digital platforms. Uh, it's all the very, very high end products. So high jewelry, uh, high watchmaking. And for these products to keep the level of exclusivity like really exclusive. It's just something that we show only by small touches on social media but in a very aspirational like way and not something that you can just see uh, like on the catalog for example. So it's something more to dream about because for most of the people you will never be able to buy like a very high jewelry necklace. Um, so that's another strategy for uh, brands to be able to, depending of the kind of category of items that you're selling to preserve uh, exclusivity.

Elysia: That's such um, a smart way to go about. I hadn't thought about um, maybe not promoting so many things on the website before. And that makes so much sense.

Co-host: It really does, doesn't it? Because you say even for luxury brands you have different levels of luxury.

Maud Lagarde: Exactly.

Co-host: There are items that are luxury but attainable to let's say a percentage of the population. Then there are super luxury items and exist in all, you know, premium brands across the world. If it's cars and you know, things like that. You know, I once spoke to someone at McLaren and they worked in a tiny department that ah, only builds custom McLaren cars like one of ones only for individuals. So and that applies I think to all brands and brands like Louis Vuitton and other brands under the umbrella that that will exist for sure. And it makes sense because you can't just put this is some, let's call it hyper luxury item on the website with some um, price that not many people can really either relate to or even understand. But there are, there is a market for that. And I think visually showing it like you say and putting out into the world is, it's like you say it's a brand uh, inspirational piece, isn't it? It's people aspire to the brand and they see what the art of the possible is even if they don't see on the website and a price.

Maud Lagarde: Yeah.

Co-host: It's a fascinating era I think of premium luxury retail.

Maud Lagarde: Yeah. For most of people it will be maybe more like something that is contributing to the culture, the brand like you imagine it and not something that you may buy something sometime. So really but it's still part of the brand and uh, the magic of it.

Co-host: So uh, I have a quick follow up question that's quite a, maybe a small question which is do you have any examples you reference some tools like digital tools that you use to uh, shape customer experience or maybe impact the business from a performance perspective. Do you have any examples of a business tool or a digital tool, let's say that come to mind.

Maud Lagarde: Um, CRM. Uh, so customer relationship management tools are crucial and especially if you're worldwide and uh, you need to have something real time now. So you cannot just uh, have something that is not uh, Connected everywhere basically especially for luxury customers that are I don't know, uh, coming in Paris, may come from us and have uh, purchased stories in the US and they want to be uh, treated like uh, customer that are known by the brand. So you really need to have this knowledge when you are just like up to the customer in Paris to be able to provide the best item possible and to be really relevant when you're just like having this time of relationship with them. So it's really something that is not well as magical gen for example. But really having a good CRM is such a good base for a lot of brand and it's also something very frustrating for customers uh because I saw that many times, uh, and when brands are I don't know like putting you some um, newsletters with items that you're not interested in at all and it's just like more email in your mailbox, it's really frustrating for customers. You don't want that. And now you know as a customer that somewhere you have the tools to be able to be better in that type of personalization. Um, so for me uh, I just want things that are tailored to what I like, what I want to buy, what I'm interested in and not something like completely irrelevant.

Co-host: Like you say it's a simple journey but actually really important because the end product of all of this work and effort and everything we've discussed today about creating an amazing brand experience at ah, the end of it is does the customer leave with the product when they want to leave with the product?

Maud Lagarde: Exactly.

Co-host: And if you overlook that that's missing, you know that's the candle on top of the cake isn't it at the end of it.

Maud Lagarde: So yeah. And you take the risk that maybe you will find a ring in another store in a medieval brand. So that's interesting.

Elysia: So this is a really difficult question for you. I can imagine your background in mentoring and your public speaking but what is the most valuable lesson that you've learned from maybe leading global cross functional projects?

Maud Lagarde: Uh, well I would say that um, alignment uh, is one of the key and really knowing what you're doing the things is I think the best lesson I have. Because when you're doing, when you're uh, m knowing why you're doing things, uh, for what reason, in what purpose, uh, it's better to be uh, able to engage the teams that you're working with. Uh, it's also better to be able to uh, translate uh, in terms of tool structure, collaboration uh, and uh, projects. If the goal Is really uh, clear for everyone. So and I saw great project that just led to a ah, disaster and just things went bad because nobody was like uh, agree on the direction and what we are, the reason we are doing uh, the thing. So I think it's something really crucial uh, to have this thing, uh, thing in mind to be able to go through all the projects and also for luxury. As we spoke before, we need to keep that right balance between uh, where you come from, the roots, the identity, uh, and also the future to be able to speak to younger generation and to uh, just uh, integrate innovation into uh, uh, all the ecosystem.

Elysia: Right. I'm gonna be making notes on that later on.

Co-host: Advice. So good to like every single career. Well like to someone you know starting out in their career like yourself or not. I think that's such, such good advice like just being aligned to who you are. The uh, vision of maybe the brand you're working with or brand you're working for. That's such good advice.

Elysia: That strikes me as one of the sort of things that could easily get lost or you get so carried away with maybe other things and trying to keep up with everyone that you can so easily, like we said about the website, you can so easily lose your actual end vision or your beginning vision.

Maud Lagarde: And I think it's also something maybe personal because as a person it's also important to have like a good comprehension of what you've been before and what you came from and what is your goal in the future and just to be able to connect everything together just to make sense. I think it's like a personal journey maybe 100%.

Co-host: Maybe I'll do a quick thank you to you for uh, not only traveling all that way from Paris to see us.

Maud Lagarde: Love to be in London, which is lovely, especially with sunny weather.

Co-host: Exactly. We have got sun, so that's good. Um, but yeah, thank you for sharing all that you've shared today and for your time and, and I think the audience obviously love the episode, but also really appreciate you sharing your experiences and working in what is one of the world's most uh, I guess prestigious brands. So thank you for your time.

Maud Lagarde: Thank you, thank you.

Elysia: Quick fire questions then. Um, if you were, uh, to only own one luxury product, you can only have one, what do you need the most? Forever.

Maud Lagarde: Forever. Uh, answer really simple. A bag.

Elysia: A bag?

Maud Lagarde: Yeah, because it's so timeless and it's so important to have a bag to carry your love with you. Mhm. So yeah, a good bag.

Co-host: What's your favorite thing about living In Paris.

Elysia: That's a good one.

Maud Lagarde: Oh, um, well, I'm an heart passionate and history lover. So being in Paris is really like a wonderful time every time. Like you just cannot see all Paris had to offer because there is so many like art galleries, museum, like uh, opera, ballet and everything. So it's really, for me it's like a dream city really.

Elysia: What is, um, maybe one project project or one uh, maybe line that's coming out this year with Louis, uh, Vuitton that you're most excited about, that you can talk about, anything that you can talk about. What are you most looking forward to coming from the brand this year?

Maud Lagarde: Uh, well, so the big news for uh, Louis Vuitton this year is that we just released whole ah, beauty, uh, product launches. So it's really something that the brand uh, haven't done before. So, so it's going to be something really new. Um, and as you know the luxury sector at the moment is not very dynamic. So it's really, I think a big gamble to see if it's going to work or not, especially because the prices are really high. Uh, but Louis Vuitton do things all the time with a huge level of excellence and commitment. So very curious about how it's gonna go in the future.

Elysia: I'm very excited for that. And Pat McGrath has been named as the creative.

Maud Lagarde: Exactly.

Elysia: So that's gonna be really interesting. I think that's setting up already an exclusive vibe of the entire uh, line. Yeah, you've not got that with any other kind of brand.

Maud Lagarde: Yeah. And at the same time, uh, I remember when I was in uh, Argentina a few years before, we work a lot on a mobile app project for virtual try on with makeup and it was really a good use case because it was something uh, quite simple to apply to the face and to see a result that is quite good to uh, buy a product. Uh, it's way harder to do that with a bag for example, because you have to uh, order a watch because, because you have the size of the product comparing to the size of the person exactly the same. You have all the material like uh, metal reflection and leather, uh, texture for example, which is really difficult when you're thinking about digital. Uh, but makeup is a good uh, field of experiment for this type of digital experiences. So maybe in the future, I don't know.

Co-host: As a person that lives in Paris, what's your favorite snack? There can't be a meal.

Maud Lagarde: Yeah.

Co-host: Favorite snack.

Maud Lagarde: Oh. The honest answer is not really matching the luxury image. So maybe I'm going to skip it. So. Because it's popcorn. So. So it's my guilt of pleasure.

Elysia: You can't know what flavor is the important question. Yeah.

Maud Lagarde: And I discovered that, well, in France, we just have salt and a sugary one. But when you're going through different other countries, like the U.S. for example, you have buttery ones.

Elysia: You can get anything in America.

Maud Lagarde: Onion ones. So, uh, it's really crazy.

Co-host: Yeah.

Maud Lagarde: Yeah.

Co-host: Popcorn's a good one.

Elysia: Yeah.

Maud Lagarde: Popcorn. Yeah.

Co-host: Cool.

Maud Lagarde: Sa.