Dissecting Longchamp’s Online Boutique [Mini-Program review]
In today’s China Digital Knowledge series, we will take an in-depth look at one of the representative WeChat Mini-Program case studies within luxury brands.
As one of France’s leading handbag makers, Longchamp has been increasing its presence in China. Many Chinese customers got to know Longchamp through its best-known folding Pliage handbags.
When Tencent introduced Mini-Programs in the early 2017, Longchamp also started to utilize the platform as an important way to increase sales in China. It was actually one of the earliest Mini-Program adopters among luxury brands.
Even though Longchamp has been using WeChat Mini-Programs differently over the years, it has successfully set up its online boutique featuring a customized workshop.
Below, we take a look at how Longchamp has built up its online boutique within a WeChat Mini-Program.
How WeChat enables Longchamp’s online boutique
Longchamp’s WeChat Mini-Program might seem as simple as its Pliage handbag. But if you look closer, you will notice that it really focuses on what fashion and luxury brands highly value: visual communication.
Longchamp has really utilized WeChat Mini-Programs for its own type of use. Its home page is filled with large, high-quality pictures that consist of Longchamp bags, bold colors and dazzling girls. The auto scrolling of sophisticated black and sexy red, lovely pink, sky blue, pineapple yellow keeps your eyes busy.
It makes you feel good, pure, simple, and tempts you into purchasing their products. You can also scroll to the left or to the right yourself, tap each picture and be navigated to pages of different handbags.
Via their Mini-Program, Longchamp has built up its online boutique within the WeChat ecosystem by setting it up as an e-commerce platform. It allows all kinds of e-commerce functions: from selecting product categories, reading product details, filling in addresses to making online payment.
Besides delivering directly to your home, you can also schedule to pick up the bag at the store of your choice.
To offer better customer service, Longchamp WeChat online boutique offers an online service session, and allows you to make an appointment to pay a visit to one of its offline mansions.
WeChat customized workshop
Longchamp’s online boutique Mini-Program uses special augmented reality technology to allow customers to personalize their own handbags.
After entering LE PLIAGE PERSONALIZED page, customers can choose different models, sizes, colors, shoulder straps, stripes, buttons and zippers for their bags. They can even add some personalized elements to the bags, such as an imprint of a heart or embroidery stitches of someone’s name.
In this way, Longchamp develops its WeChat online sale channel by offering customized items, which are distinct from its offline standard products.
The Mini-Program helps Longchamp to direct its offline customers to its online boutique, retaining the most loyal customers and fans.
While enabling customized production on WeChat is efficient, and can cover a wide range of potential customers, it can also save money, material resources and operating costs for the company.
From UGC to PGC branding
At the early stage of Longchamp’s WeChat Mini-Program exploration, the luxury brand used to encourage user-generated content (UGC) by allowing users to upload selfies, post images and texts, etc. The latest version has canceled such functions, but only allows professionally-generated content (PGC) to be shown.
The Photo Wall has showed such transformation, which might result from the regulations and efforts required in China to check each uploaded image.
In the Photo Wall section, Longchamp showcases eye-catching pictures taken by professionals, and allows users to like the pictures and directly forward them to their WeChat friends.
Key points
Longchamp’s WeChat e-commerce platform - the online boutique Mini-Program focuses on visual communication, which perfectly aligns with its unique brand features.
Longchamp has a customized workshop within its WeChat Mini-Program. It allows customers to personalize their own handbags and to open up the online sale channel.
Longchamp has changed the way of using Mini-Program to better serve its own need. PGC offers broader and deeper content for commercialization; it helps Longchamp to build its corporate image.
Our view
Luxury brands like Longchamp usually don't care about traffic that much. To reach the audience precisely is the key. WeChat ecosystem can helps them to achieve this goal. On the one hand, Mini-Program can simplify the entire consumption behavior by offering customer service as well as a rather comprehensive shopping & checkout experience. On the other hand, Mini-Program can enable luxury brands to encourage individual expressions, which is usually high-stressed in the industry.
Just like Longchamp, all kinds of functions within the WeChat ecosystem allows you to take your business to the next level. You can design a suitable structure for the Mini-Program to reach your audience and build your corporate image as well. To use Mini-Program’s abilities to the fullest, you should combine it with the other WeChat power tools, such as Official Accounts, WeChat Pay and integration of QR Codes.
Need some ideas on how to utilize WeChat Mini-Programs for you business? Let us know and we can organize a brainstorming session!
Ok, that's it for this in-depth analysis.
Catch you on the next one!