Loro Piana is a Maison that draws interest from all corners of LVMH. They’re unique. They stand out. If you’ve followed us on Forward for a while, or keep track of luxury developments in the global press, you might have heard of their luxury industry defining Gift of Kings traceability and authenticity service. You might even have considered similar applications for your Maison.
But before you take the metro to Rue Faubourg Saint-Honoré to experience it for yourself, we sat down with the team behind the project to get a behind-the-scenes look at how they launched what many consider the next step in value chain transparency. We spoke about the app at the heart of the service, the KPIs they used to measure success, how they trained the team and what your Maison could learn and apply from the project.
Authenticity and Traceability
First things first, what makes this authenticity and traceability service possible? The answer is in the production process and Loro Piana’s direct control over every step of it.
“Loro Piana is known for unparalleled quality and an obsession for detail and excellence. This has always been guaranteed through a vertically-integrated production process, where every step – from the raw fiber to finished product – is directly controlled internally.”
Knowing every step of the product cycle is important because it means they can share the journey with customers in a creative and engaging way. This is a huge value add for any Maison. But how can the customer trust the authenticity of the claims and the origins of the raw materials? How can a Maison ensure 100% trust and transparency?
The technology is merely the lever to magnify what is already in place. The immutability of blockchain means data can’t be altered, tampered or edited once uploaded. Loro Piana keeps detailed accounts of which farms in Australia and New Zealand breed the sheep, when and in what quantity the wool arrives at the Italian workshops of Verrone and which artisans treat, dye and weave the wool into the finished garment. It’s all recorded in intricate detail. By having this information stored on the blockchain and made available to the customer, Maison’s have a new avenue to transform the relationship between brand and customer.
“Thanks to this system, Loro Piana is able to tell the unique story of every step of production, from raw fiber to finished product. It is important to provide this information to the customer as well, to give even more value to the purchased product and make Loro Piana’s excellent savoir-faire even more transparent. This takes the customer experience to a new level.”
Here’s a question for you. If you could give your customers access to one aspect of your Maion’s product cycle, which would you choose?
Digital Certification For The Secondary Market
We’ve seen Tag Heuer, Bulgari and Givenchy experiment with authenticity and traceability in an attempt to add more transparency to the secondary market. Perhaps traceability is at the top of your Maison’s ‘to do’ list? Let’s look at the example of a Loro Piana customer who wishes to pass-on their Gift of Kings knitwear to their children. Just as the product journey can be stored on the blockchain, so too can ownership of clothing. A customer authenticates their Gift of Kings garment and registers ownership using the app (more on the app below). On completion, they receive a digital certificate that must be transferred for ownership to change.
The App
I know what you’re thinking. Sounds technical. And you’re right, it is. But I have good news. For you, me and the customer, the technology is hidden. In fact, the process is incredibly simple.
“We want our customers and shop managers to understand why we are launching this project. Not the technology. We wanted everything to be easy to understand and use.”
Customers need only connect to the app and scan the QR code that’s found in the label of the garment. The app is feature rich and has an easy-to-navigate and intuitive UX and UI that everyone will be familiar with. Once inside, customers can immerse themselves in the storytelling, view their digital certificate and see the ‘attributes of excellence.’
Scan the QR code, access the app. What could be easier? This raises the question: How is your Maison thinking about simplicity?
Training, collaboration and cross-departmental organisation
You’ve been in the business long enough to know every luxury project needs ingenuity, communication, trial and error and an open mindset. But how does that work with new technology? How, practically, do you involve every department in your Maison – from Digital, IT and Communication, to Legal, and Production – when everyone is still learning? Loro Piana’s solution was to create training materials and workshop sessions and make sure everyone had access. How?
Loro Piana has two teams dedicated to training and departmental alignment. They’re called the ‘Retail Excellence’ and ‘Go- to Market’ teams and they were responsible for equipping sales associates and on-site employees with the skills and knowledge.
“We want our customers and shop managers to understand why we are launching this project and not the technology used. Furthermore, we wanted everything to be easy to understand and use.”
Web3 increasingly combines the physical and the virtual, giving everyone in your Maison access to the materials to learn, and perhaps more importantly, help customers, is an important first step.
Loro Piana and Aura
Designing, building and launching a Web3 project is like piecing together a jigsaw puzzle. Assembling the pieces into a complete picture can require help. Case in point? Loro Piana has direct control over all facets of the production chain, but one of the immediate challenges of the project was getting that information onto the blockchain.
To overcome the technical aspects, Loro Piana (like Guerlain, Hennessy and Givenchy) worked in collaboration with The Aura Blockchain Consortium. From uploading data, account security and hash keys, to the digital certificate and QR code, the relationship allowed the Maison to act with confidence.
“Aura Blockchain Consortium has been a very supportive partner throughout the realization of the project, helping us identify the best solutions and understanding the complexity of our supply and production chain.”
Kpis and advice for other Maisons
“Weekly alignments were key to achieving the final result.”
At Forward, we love concrete data and measurable KPIs. So how do Loro Piana measure success? What KPIs do they use? As we have said before, finding measurables is a work in progress. Unlike two years ago, however, there are now concrete KPIs.
- Sessions in the webApp
- Engagement rate
- Number of sales of the product
- Number of claims
It’s not huge. But it’s measurable, and actionable. And that matters. Can you think of more KPIs you would use to measure success?
Advice for Maisons
“The involvement and commitment of all departments is crucial to achieving the objectives. Digital, IT, Production, Legal, CRM, Go-to Market and Communication departments must be involved from the beginning. They must feel part of the project.”
We also love actionable solutions and advice that your Maison can use in the digital space. So let’s look at that last observation. “They must feel part of the project.” It’s particularly insightful. Not only does it capture the essence of successful collaboration across departments, but it captures the essence of what customers look for: to feel part of the brand, part of the journey.
Loro Piana is a Maison with a very unique product made from a unique material. They’re using Blockchain technology to demystify the production process and give unheralded access and knowledge to the customer. They’re strengthening relationships and increasing trust. Like all of you, they are creating experiences to connect with the customer. Fortunately, connecting with the customer and blockchain happen to be the perfect fit.
