Luxury designer brand Chanel may limit purchases of classic products in further exclusivity drive
- Shoppers only allowed two Classic Flaps bags a year – costing US$10,000 each; ‘We have sometimes to limit the number of items a single client can buy,’ CFO says
- The brand already limited purchases of the bag in South Korea, where long queues form before dawn outside stores, braced to sprint at opening time
Chanel could replicate purchase limits on its quilted Classic Flap handbag on other high-end products and in more countries, the French brand said, as luxury houses tighten their grip on distribution amid soaring demand.
“We have sometimes to limit the number of items a single client can buy,” Chanel’s chief financial officer Philippe Blondiaux said in an interview, when asked about a report on the Pursebop website that it would only allow shoppers to buy two Classic Flaps per year – which can cost US$10,000 each.
Blondiaux said the limits, which would not be imposed globally, were aimed at protecting customers and curbing bulk buying. Analysts say Chanel wants to make its brand even more exclusive, and is also seeking to counter a boom in the resale market for luxury goods.
“It can be implemented on certain product ranges – not only the flap bag – it could impact some items which are in hot demand and fortunately, or unfortunately, there are quite a lot at Chanel, so this is the kind of measure which we could implement in different countries at times,” Blondiaux said.
Some resellers have said they were hiring “line standers” for up to US$125 a day to queue or enter stores on their behalf.
The possible wider use of purchase limits comes amid an industry drive for exclusivity, with Chanel repeatedly hiking prices for its handbags during the pandemic. The group says its aim is also to reduce the price gap between different regions.