12 Rue Alexandre Parodi, 75010 PARIS
AND
48-50 rue Ampère, 75017 Paris
BUSI 550 INTERNSHIP REPORT
GUILLAUME LESTIEU
E-COMMERCE PROJECT MANAGER
BUSI 550 internship report | Guillaume Lestieu
Executive Summary
Lancel is a world-famous brand in the field of bags and leather goods. It was founded over 140
years ago in Paris, France. The French enterprise actively participated to the women emancipation from
the end of the 19th Century. Historically, Lancel has always been a trend setter (they filled over one
hundred patents) until recent years when they decreased. Eventually, the company got acquired in 2018
by the Italian Group specialized in leather goods, Piquadro. The new owners are reorienting the strategy
of the brand passing from the luxury leather goods market to the premium one.
My role as an intern at Lancel was quite fulfilling. At first, the job was described to me as having
tasks that a normal employee would have. So, I was delighted to see it was actually the case. I was in
charge of taking care of the website. Later I got more missions changing position from Assistant to
Project Manager. I then developed my own project with the platform of the Galeries Lafayette to
optimize the sales and with Google My Business to improve the online presence of Lancel online. These
two lasts became the highlights of my internship as I exceeded the objectives with the Galeries Lafayette
and that the CEO himself validated and put the Google strategy as a main axis for the company!
On a daily basis, I was in charge of analysis the results, do and revisit the merchandising of the
website, making sure that the products are not out of stocks and that they are online. I was also making
sure that all the visuals are good for the current products as well as for the upcoming ones. Daily I was
also developing my own projects like the gift card that would functions on the website and in the stores.
These daily activities taught me about the importance of every tasks even the smallest ones that we
tend to put aside, they may turn to be the most crucial ones.
The American Business School of Paris prepared me well for this internship through a program
close to the everyday working reality. Especially with classes like Project Management – MGT690, EMarketing – MKT578, Strategic marketing – MKT577Or even International M&A – FIN621 as I was in a
company that recently got acquired. Moreover, the experience from the professors was valuable to me.
Finally, having the opportunity to do my internship at Lancel truly helped me for the future in
facilitating my choices in what I liked and disliked at work. This report is assessing the current situation
of Lancel according to my research and what I observed during my six months there. It shows a company
that will succeed its transition from the luxury to the premium market in the upcoming years even if it
still has a long way to go.
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Acknowledgements
First of all, I would like to record my sincere thanks to Elodie Deroff, my manager during my
internship at Lancel. She was of an outstanding help for me all along these six months working for the
Parisian leather goods company. My special gratitude for her support, she is an incredibly good listener
as well as a good human being who helped me improve as a person and as a worker. I thank her for the
trust she gave me, she has been there to give me tasks but also freedom to develop my own ideas, so I
am delighted and grateful to have had the chance to have her as manager.
I also take this opportunity to thank Robin Young who was unbelievably helpful to me, always
providing quick answers with extremely useful insights. Moreover, I want to thank him for his kindness
and constant availability. This report would not have been the same without his precious advices.
Additionally, I have to thank Pascale Ginet without who nothing would have been possible
because she is the one thanks to who I got the internship at the wonderful company that is Lancel. She
made herself available to help me find an internship and therefore complete my MBA. Also, I would like
to thank the American Business School of Paris for this opportunity.
Finally, I would like to acknowledge all people from the different departments with who I
worked at Lancel they all taught me and extraordinary amount of knowledge on the good functioning of
a company and on the working life.
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Table of Contents
Executive Summary
1
Acknowledgements
2
1
6
2
3
Introduction
1.1
Intern Introduction
6
1.2
Choice of Internship
7
1.3
Company Description
8
1.4
Internship Position Introduction
12
Daily Missions and Activities
15
2.1
Daily results analysis
15
2.2
E-Merchandising
16
2.3
Photo shooting follow up and the “OUT” file
17
2.4
From problem solving to the “Google adventures”
18
2.5
Stock Management
19
2.6
Gift card project
19
2.7
The marketing “web file”
20
2.8
Visuals and photo shooting
22
2.9
Market development coordinator
23
Analysis and Evaluation
3.1
25
SWOT analysis
25
3.1.1
Strengths
25
3.1.2
Weaknesses
26
3.1.3
Opportunities
28
3.1.4
Threats
29
3.1.5
Conclusions
29
3.2
Porter 5 Forces Analysis
31
3.2.1
Bargaining Power of Suppliers – Weak
31
3.2.2
Bargaining Power of Customers – Strong
32
3.2.3
Threat of New Entrants – Weak
33
3.2.4
Threat of Substitute Products – Weak
34
3.2.5
Competitive Rivalry within the industry – Very strong
34
3.2.6
Conclusions
35
3.3
McKinsey 7S Framework
36
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4
3.3.1
Strategy
36
3.3.2
Structure
37
3.3.3
Systems
39
3.3.4
Shared Values
39
3.3.5
Style
40
3.3.6
Staff
40
3.3.7
Skills
41
3.3.8
Conclusions
41
Critical Analysis
43
4.1
Company
43
4.2
Personal
44
5
Conclusions
45
6
Recommendations
47
7
Bibliography
48
8
Appendices
49
8.1
Appendix 1 – My Resume
49
8.2
Appendix 2 – My Evaluations
51
8.3
Appendix 3 – Google posts
54
8.4
Appendix 4 – Photo shootings
56
8.5
Appendix 5 – Iconic advertisements
57
8.6
Appendix 6 – Lancel Museum
58
8.7
Appendix 7 – Google My Business
62
8.8
Appendix 8 – COMP
66
8.9
Appendix 8 – Merchandising
67
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1 Introduction
1.1 Intern Introduction
As for everyone it is important, I believe, to know where one is from to understand them. I was
born and raised in the South West of France in a little town called Mazamet, living with my two
brothers, one younger and one older, and my parents. I was privileged, I had the chance to grow up in a
very safe environment before moving to a bigger city, Toulouse. There, I went to university (Toulouse
Capitole) to get my first diploma in Economics and Laws in the hope to become a trader. But, after an
internship in that specific field I reconsidered my future and left to the United States, in Los Angeles to
do a master in media and communication (Hult International Business School and EF Language School)
while improving my English skills. That is when I decided to orientate myself toward something more
“human” if I may say so. I landed in Germany at the ICN Business School (a French Business School but at
their campus of Nuremberg) to do a bachelor degree in International Management with a minor in
Luxury and Fashion. Three years later, after two years in Germany and one in the US, as newly
graduated I decided to go for one more diploma at the American Business School of Paris, in
International Business with minor in Geopolitics and Strategic Business. So, this is my educational
background. Regarding my work background, I worked in digital and HR with Amazon to deal with some
communication problems they had in intern between the Headquarter and their managers in
warehouses. I worked in Los Angeles in an event company (music and weddings). In Germany I worked
in marketing and communication (consulting internship). And, in France, I worked in a bank as a trainee
trader on the forex (Euro-Dollar exchange), as well as on marketing and strategy for the creation of a
website for a brand selling luxury products.
In addition to this quite exhaustive list about my background, here are my hobbies. I love to
write (currently writing a book), read, visit museums, play sports especially golf and football, and
drawing. I had the chance to travel in a great number of countries, and live in few of them (France,
Germany, Japan, England and USA). This allowed me to meet many people from all around the world
and learn from them. I believe that these experiences made me grow up, be more open minded and
empathetic.
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I decided to study at the American Business School for my MBA for several reasons. The first one
was that I almost came to the ABS for my bachelor before going to Germany, so I felt like I still had my
story to write there. I was really attracted to this school because of its link to the American University
system that I feel I am more fit for. It requires more doing, more thinking on your own. Because during
my first bachelor, in French system, I disliked this “learn by heart and repeat” a kind of copy and paste
that I felt incredibly hard for me to cope with. Therefore, when I had the opportunity to leave that
system and not fall back into it, I seized it. Furthermore, when I had my interview with the Dean, mister
Fadel, I felt treated as human being and it was the same during the whole registration process. It was
not the case for most of the schools I also applied for. In the end, I had several options, however the
choice was easy for me, I chose the American Business School for its internationality and human side.
1.2 Choice of Internship
Choosing an internship is never an easy task, especially when it is the last one as a student. The
ultimate step before the professional world. The tip in the life curve between young years and
adulthood. I first applied for an internship in the United States of America at a company called
Oppenheimer specialized in international investments. However, getting the visa under the new
administration on the other side of the ocean would have been too long. Therefore, I decided to go for
an internship in France, or in Europe, I wanted something that would have at least an international
touch and position that would allow me to put into practice what I learned during classes at the
American Business School of Paris. But more than that I wanted an internship where I would be able to
learn more skills and help me orientate my future career. It was, perhaps, a lot to ask for however
Pascale Ginet, Head of Corporate Relations at the American Business School, proposed me this
internship along another one. I was glad to have this opportunity, I knew Lancel from my mother who
owns some bags from the brand, I had and emotional attachment to it. I had the interview, it went well,
they got back to me very quickly, just few hours after the interview. I was thrilled. I accepted because I
saw this internship as a good option matching my expectations for an internship. During the interview
with the human resource person and my future manager I felt this human side I was looking for in
addition to my prerequisites such as an international touch and the learning of new skills.
I must admit that before this internship my knowledge in e-commerce were quite restraint to emarketing that I learned in class. However, I was eager to learn and discover if this was the type of
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career I wanted to pursue. That is why I can say that the three main reasons why I chose this internship
are the following:
1. Using my knowledge from school in order to adapt them to the work life and learning new skills, new
ways of being.
2. Determining if this what I want to do in life or trying to find the right path.
3. Lancel is a renowned brand that is good for my resume and will help me in life.
My internship started on the 27th of August and as it advanced and the months passed, I realized
that I was right on my initial thoughts. What I learned in class proved itself to be useful even though it
was not obvious at first. I came aware of doing most of what I was thought at school quite unconsciously
which is good because it means that the assimilation of the knowledge was successful! On top of that, I
discovered a lot and was able to absorb so many skills in the e-commerce field and on the work life as a
whole. Now that my internship is finished (27th of February) I see how it helped me a lot into knowing
what I want and do not want to do later. Finally, I know that having Lancel is good for my future because
some recruiters for other companies already contacted me to get more information about my situation
and availability before the end of my internship.
1.3 Company Description
Lancel was founded in Paris in 1876. It is a brand with a very rich history 1. Some of their bags
greatly impacted the fashion world (the Huit (bucket bag), and the Charlie for example). For about a
century the French brand was a major actor in its sector and filled over a hundred patents! After some
rough time in the early 2000s Lancel got recently acquired by Piquadro, an Italian brand specialized in
connected leather goods. Lancel belonged to the Richemont Group who tried to stabilize the finance of
Lancel since they purchased it from the family of the founders in 1997. 2 They never succeeded. Now,
Lancel wants to reconquer the market and be innovative as they used to be at their prime. Lancel is
finally entering the digital era with its new owners. The Paris based company is still functioning like an
old institution, but everything is evolving extremely fast, so there are great opportunities in the
1
2
Book « Lancel – Maison parisienne depuis 1876 » (in French)
https://www.carnetsduluxe.com/a-la-une/piquadro-rachete-lancel-richemont/ (in French)
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company. They are currently trying to reach out to younger customers, because their original clients
grew up with the brand but are now older. It is an exciting challenge for its complexity and for
everything that I am learning. The company’s turnover was of 49 238 200 €3 in 2018. Lancel has about
500 employees, about 100 of them are working at the headquarter in Paris, France where the brand was
founded more than a century ago. Lancel started by producing and selling tobacco smoking utensil as
well clocks, watches and decorating objects. Lancel was the first brand to propose such products for
women. At the end of the 19 th Century it was primordial to smoke in order to socialize a task that
appeared to be completed by women due to their heavy and complex clothing. Therefore, the brand
started to propose little accessories to carry around all necessary items not to be left aside during
gathering. It helped the women to have a greater social presence. As the women fashion evolved Lancel
reoriented itself toward bags many very common and famous design were created within the walls of
the Maison Lancel.
“Lancel – Parisian Maison since 1876” directed by Laurence Benaïm available in French, English and Chinese
3
https://www.societe.com/societe/lancel-sogedi-612036376.html#chiffrecle
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The structure of the company is organized into departments as there are departments for
communication, CRM, design, e-commerce, finance, human resources, IT, marketing, visual
merchandising, production, quality, retail and supply. It is a quite normal organization for an enterprise
in the fashion industry. However, in contrary to other companies Lancel has a very flat organization
since the acquisition by Piquadro, all the C-positions got removed which made the communication faster
but not necessarily easier.
The vision of the company was well defined until few years ago then it navigated without
direction in a sea of incertitude covered with the fog of unknown. Since Lancel changed owner it is clear
that a direction wants to be taken however, it is not clear toward where the French company is heading
to. From the start to the end of my internship, the vision was like a compass unable to find the North
because surrounded by magnets. Historically, as it is where it seems like the brand is going for, Lancel is
a very innovative company in the leather goods industry. Lancel says in their Manifesto that they
“always known that luxury only creates style if it also breeds progress.”4 While it is important to create
beauty in and with the products, the vision of the brand is also to create personal object providing a
sense of liberty, intuitiveness while bearing a luxurious spirit. In its vision, Lancel understands that we
are all different unlike other companies who believe that it is the carnival everyday putting masks on the
face of their customers pretending that they are all the same. Therefore, the company tries to deliver
products adapted to our everyday life as well as giving beauty to our common actions. At its debut,
Lancel fully went for the improvement of daily tasks and the continue this over the decades. And as rare
as it may seem in the fashion industry, Lancel stands for “optimism, happiness and pleasure”5 through
its line of colorful products.
Nowadays, the situation is different as the company tries to reach out to a new group of
customers. It will be more about the image, the style and more than all, producing products that have
proven to be liked. Consequently, the brand is now less about innovating and more about reproducing
the mainstream while looking for its new vision.
4
5
https://www.lancel.com/en_int/univers-le-manifeste
https://www.lancel.com/en_int/univers-le-manifeste
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Main goals:
The current main goals of the company, since it was acquired, can be defined as a return on
investment strategy while longer terms goals. The number one goal apart from reaching the sales
objectives is to shift from an older and richer target group to a younger one. Another important goal is
for the company to pass from a luxury brand to a premium brand without losing the current customers.
The new owners are really attached to the image of Lancel and are willing to do a lot to keep that image
safe as for example they refused to take part in the black Friday even though the demand was high.
Wanting to keep the image while wanting to pass from selling luxury items to selling premium goods is a
quite conflicting idea. I believe that the group is orientating toward premium because the other brands
of the group, Piquadro and The Bridge, are also premium brands. Also, it is a way for Piquadro to affirm
itself on the international market. 6 The French base enterprise is now moving toward brands like Marc
Jacobs, Michael Kors, Longchamp, Furla or Coach who are high premium brands. When Marco Palmieri,
President and CEO of Piquadro, announced the purchase of Lancel he stated that he wanted the design,
the logistics and the headquarter to stay in France. However, in intern, the Piquadro Group wants to
centralize the creating and design departments of all its companies in Italy. Therefore, they are replacing
or moving people from their current position at Lancel
Company’s website:
https://www.lancel.com/fr/
6
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVsb5H8HSAk&app=desktop (in Italian)
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1.4 Internship Position Introduction
At first, my internship tasks were said to be the following ones:
-
preparing the datasheet of every products for the website (description + visuals),
-
managing the visuals for the website (preparing photo shootings, choosing pictures, etc.),
-
optimizing the e-merchandising in order to increase the sales: product animation, categories
optimization, selection creation, cross selling, etc.,
-
being in relation and dealing with the different digital partners,
-
reporting sales and developing strategies in function of the results,
-
benchmarking the competition.
When I got to start my internship at Lancel I expected to do these tasks. I began by learning how
to organize the e-merchandising of the website, then I learned about our partners to be in relation with
them (Galeries Lafayette, The Other Store, The Content Factory…) and discovered how to do the
Datasheet of each products on the website.
Advancing in my internship made me master my missions and be able to develop my own ideas.
I had a lot of important responsibilities however the three following ones are the ones that I consider as
my most important. Taking care of the merchandising of the website, the partnership with the Galeries
Lafayette and Google My Business.
Main tasks:
Firstly, I was making sure the merchandising of the website was good according to the stock, the
sales and the marketing demands was not an easy task at first, but it taught me lot. This mission is about
organizing the products but not only. Displaying the products on the home page, on different selections
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or offer pages is a coming from a whole strategy. This strategy is based on the analysis of the sales on
the website, the most visited pages, the most viewed products, the rebound rate (user opening a page
and leaving it without taking any action), the marketing planning outside the e-commerce, managing the
stocks and the novelties. It is not only about bestsellers, it concerns all the products. Every single day I
had to verify the merchandising of the website, looking if everything was in stock, if not I had to ask our
digital partner to put the product at the end of the page/selection until it came back in stock. I had to
make sure that the novelties were well present in the right categories and on the first lines. Also, it is not
only about the products, the lifestyle and advertisement campaign visuals are to be used on the
homepage according to the monthly planning or otherwise if I believe that something else will generate
more sales. This was complex because sometimes the communication and press services were
displaying future products in the media however, I was not allowed to present products that were not
present on the website. I had to work on this mission every day of my internship, sometimes it took only
few minutes, sometimes hours. For example, during the sales or Christmas time I had to do this several
time a day. And, as explained in the job description it is my main task.
Secondly, the partnership with the Galeries Lafayette. At first, I was simply an intermediary
between the direction at Lancel and the managers in charge of the e-commerce at the Galeries
Lafayette. Then, I got appointed project manager for this partnership, I became responsible for
everything from A to Z. I was choosing which products to add or to remove from the digital platform of
the Galeries Lafayette. I made business plan about the year 2019 sales in order to know what was
realistic and what should be done to increase even more. From September to December 2018 (included)
I increased the sales by over 70% on the website of our partner for Lancel products7. I achieved this by
reorganizing the merchandising, Proposing new visuals for the brand and a new and more modern
description of the company. Also, I made sure that they would receive more stock so that they would
not be out of stock. For this mission I was in contact with the e-commerce, the communication and the
supply chain of the Galeries Lafayette. It was really complete but quite time consuming as they are
extremely bureaucratic. I provided them with all visuals and product descriptions, as well as a price file. I
had to adapt everything to a very specific format that they created. This was, in some ways, similar to
taking care of the merchandising on the Lancel’s website but in more complete, less details and with
7
By matter of confidentiality no sales data will be provided in the report.
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external partners. Also, I had to prepare weekly and monthly reports on our sales on that platform as
well as stock inventories in order to make sure that we would never miss a sale because of stock.
Lastly, Google My Business, a primordial tool in nowadays world. However, Lancel was not really
using it. The main stores were present on Google, but it was limited to this. I explained the benefits of
using this tool. Quickly, Giovanni Bonatti, the CEO of Lancel was convinced and declared it as number
one strategy in communication for the whole brand during the monthly business review of December
2018. I completed all the Lancel’s locations with the brand description, pictures (from each store), and
general information (opening hours, phone number, full address). Also, I created many posts for each
boutique, articles about special events such as sales, Christmas, Valentine’s day… Post visible on the
Google Search and on Google Maps. All these posts, texts, pictures were prepared by me to reinforce
the optimization of each shop’s page. The Search Engine Optimization (SEO) was improved as well as the
user experience on our Google pages. I placed key words and pictures in order to make our places more
attractive. Thanks to my work the views by discovery or theme increased in overall by more than
1000%! Views by discovery or theme are users landing on the page of a Lancel boutique by searching
other brands linked to Lancel or by searching random term like “bag”. I was also creating reports on the
views and actions, and the effects of Google My Business on the sales. It was really positive.
Lancel's progression on Google from October 2018 to Februray 2019
800000
700000
600000
500000
400000
300000
200000
100000
0
Number of views
October
December
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2 Daily Missions and Activities
2.1 Daily results analysis
I start every day by checking the results of the day before, analyzing the sales, and the returns. I
try to see if there are any patterns in the sales or returns. Returns are not occurring every day, they are
quite rare. However, when they do happen, I have to see the reasons for the sending back of the
product. Therefore, I can warn the quality department in order to avoid the problem to repeat itself and
to have unsatisfied clients. It is important for the direction at Lancel to stand up to the image of the
brand in term of quality and service. That is why when I am done analyzing the results, I work closely
with the client relation service, they prepare the message they will communicate to the client according
to my observations. Each message is personalized in order to be as close to the case as possible.
Also, when I see a pattern in the sales, I try to evaluate its potential in order to prepare the ecommerce stock for it by ordering more products. To do so I have brief meetings with people from the
supply chain department, in order to convince them I have to show them my observations. And because
the central warehouse and the one of the e-commerce are on different locations, I need to be precise
with the need because the moving has a cost in money and in time. The price is not really high, it is
absorbed in the sale of the products, however the heavier cost the time one. A product sent from the
central warehouse will be delivered on the same day. Nevertheless, the package will, most of the time,
be taken into account and open only the day after. Thus, the entry of the product on the e-commerce
stock system will happen only in the evening of the day after it was sent. From the moment a product
enters the system it takes up to five days to appear actually in stock on the website and available for the
customers. So, planning ahead for the stocks according to the sales of the day and the pattern is crucial.
Because if the products are sent only when they are out of stock (example of how it looks on the
website below) a lot of sales will be lost as the products will be unavailable for several days. Even though
that task generally only takes up to fifteen
minutes, it is a crucial task. This resulted to
an improvement in the stock supplying, less
product out of stock and then less missed
sales so more revenue. I learned or more
this confirmed what I was taught in class on
the importance of the results analysis.
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2.2 E-Merchandising
Analyzing the sales and returns of the day before really shapes my second daily activity:
checking and arranging the merchandising of the website. This mission was said to be my most
important on the job description as well as during the interview. With the outcome from my first daily
task, I start to change the merchandising on the website. To do so, I prepare either excel sheets or very
detailed and imaged emails for the developers, these documents are called “Merch Brief”. In these, I
show them where products should be placed and in what order. For example, all the products out of
stock will be placed at the end of the page/selection and be replaced by similar products. Best sellers
will be pushed forwards for everyone to be easier to find.
Example of what I was sending to organize the merch, more examples are in the appendices
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However, the whole merchandising is not only decided with the results from the day before. In
order to complete this task, I have to take into account several other information. For instance, every
month there is a meeting between the Marketing, Retail, E-commerce, Communication and Supply
services in order to plan push of products. The themes defined during this meeting help to create the
weekly home pages. Moreover, once a week the marketing department will unlock some more
products. These products will then be allowed to be on the website, and I will place them according to
their collection and release dates.
At first, it took me a lot of time to improve the merchandising of the pages, but with time I
ended up really increasing the sales and decreasing the rebound rate (people leaving the page without
taking action). Plus, the pages started to look more appealing, also with our partners for the website, we
added an information button to inform the clients that a product was out of stock before they click on it
(it reduces the rebound rates and disappointment of customers). I also did the e-merchandising for the
website of the Galeries Lafayette on the Lancel’s page, and this increased the sales by over 70%!
I learned that I could use a very attractive but expensive product to increase the sales of the
products around it. I realized even more how color association can affect consumer’s behavior. Also,
following the customer’s journey through the website I learned how to find patterns and how to
influence them in order to make a sale. Because, in some ways, placing the products on a page on a
website is like using words in a boutique for a sale excepts that phrases are replaced by images.
2.3 Photo shooting follow up and the “OUT” file
This next activity is a quick one but has to be done every day and is useful for the two tasks above.
The “OUT” file is created at Lancel’s central warehouse, it contains the references and quantity of all the
products sent daily to the e-commerce stock. It allows me to plan the arrivals and know about the return
of out of stock products. Thanks to that file I fill out another important document called the “Photo
shooting follow up”. This document allows me to know all about the products in stock. I daily add
information to it to know what products are in stock or if visuals are needed.
During my first weeks I was annoyed by these two files I deemed them as unnecessary work
because I could not see the whole picture yet. The “photos hooting follow up” as its name let suggest
was simply about knowing if we had all the pictures for the products we received and the “OUT” file was
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just used regarding whether if we had pictures or not for the arriving subject. While realizing the
importance of that file I decided to upgrade it, adding this notion of keeping track of the stock on it as
well.
Thank to this I was able to plan better the photo shoots and manage with the supply to receive
one product of the upcoming collections in order to have pictures before the actual stock arrive. The ecommerce is in charge of organizing the photo shootings for the products, without pictures you cannot
sell the product online.
This tiny file called “OUT” made me realize the importance of even the smallest things in at
work. It is not because it is quick to deal with that it is not crucial.
2.4 From problem solving to the “Google adventures”
When I started to be more autonomous my manager gave me a lot of liberties, and I took a bit
of my time every day. So, I looked at the problem Lancel was encountering. I saw the communication
problem between all the services as everyone was playing for themselves. So, I decided to walk and visit
the people I work with directly instead of skyping or emailing them (I would email them when back to
my office to remind them and have a writing trace for my manager). By doing some diplomacy I was able
to show each service that they had a good place in the company and that we needed to be more
coordinated in order to make Lancel grow and that it would benefit us all. I made the CRM manager be
in line with the website. Before they were not even seeing with the e-commerce if the product, they
were pushing was online or in stock, it was not the greatest. I also made the marketing team prepare
their file for us on our format so that both services would gain time. Also, as explained earlier I was able
to bring the supply chain department to be more listening to the e-commerce and to provide the ecommerce with a greater stock. But while advancing I realize that the biggest problem was the nonacknowledgment of the e-commerce in the company. The retail was seeing it as “thief” taking away part
of its customers. Therefore, I wanted to implement a something that could benefit both e-commerce
and retail departments. I first proposed a gift card that would function on both ends, you could buy it in
the store and spend it online or vice versa or buy it on the website offer it and spend it on the same
place. However, because Lancel’s website is ran by a third party the financial part was too complicated.
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But one day, while on Google Analytics, I saw that the online visibility of the brand was quite
mediocre. The boutiques were, for most of them, relatively invisible. Then, I started to gather all the
shops under the same account on Google where some were already grouped. That is how the “Google
adventures” started. Daily, I was gathering all the information to complete the shop’s data, I was
optimizing the presence of the store with key words and pictures I had at my disposal. I presented the
idea to the retail director who adored the idea, I contacted some boutique manager who sent me visuals
the trial was really effective. So successful that the CEO decided to make it the main communication
strategy of Lancel. I was solely in charge of it. Slowly but surely all the stores sent me visuals and
additional content for me to improve their digital presence. Within two months I considerably increased
the number of views of the brand. Lancel passed from having about 180 000 unique views per months
on our 64 locations to having about 700 000 unique views per months! Most of it came from “discovery
visits” meaning that people were searching another brand than Lancel or a product and arrived on the
page of one of the shops.
This mission brought many new customers to the shops and to the website. Thanks to this the
retail managers understood the importance of the e-commerce, so the relation between the two
services improved and it benefited the brand. I realize that the situation at work is like everywhere else,
concessions are to be made and diplomacy is used.
2.5 Stock Management
I mentioned the stock earlier, I was responsible for the e-commerce stock management. My daily
activities allowed me to complete this mission. I managed to get most of the stock for our absolute best
seller, the Ninon medium model in black, before it got out of stock. It was sometimes challenging as the
demand was really high and the stock for as asked products were not at the highest especially around
Christmas time. I really used and developed my soft skills during this exercise.
2.6 Gift card project
Earlier I also mentioned the gift card for the retail and the e-commerce. I worked on that project
for three months almost every day until it was canceled for financial reason and because we are
changing suppliers for our digital services. The gift card was with a company called BuyBox, they are
working with great brands like Givenchy. They propose an omnichannel solution that could have
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benefited Lancel. I prepared a business plan, and many forecasts, and even though the idea
encountered great enthusiasm it was put aside. However, they kept the plans to put it in actions in the
future. This made me realize that, in contrary of school, it is not because you put a lot of work and do
everything well that you will pass. It was a bitter end for project in which I really invested myself but
became a good lesson.
https://www.buybox.net/fr/
2.7 The marketing “web file”
Once a month I received a file from the marketing team called the “Web file”. It contains all the
descriptions on the product page, it is an excel file with tens and tens of lines by tens and tens of
columns. From the name of the product, to its dimension passing by its reference of its color. All
regarding the goods is on this file except the price. I had to adapt this file and convert it into another
document called the “COMP”. The COMP is the file that is to be sent to our partner for the website for
them to be able to present the products online. But before sending the file I had to prepare it for the
website. I added all the categories that will later on be the filters, and selections on the website. As
filtering the products by color, matters or size. It is a long process.
Screenshot from the COMP, compiled data about the products that then turn into the image below when on the website.
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Example of a product page with all the descriptions
Also, I have to put all this information in English, it takes times to translate it all because the
translation of words or expression have to be exactly the same as it was translated in the past. The
translation is important because it is for the international version of the website.
I dealt with this file when we redesigned the whole website there were over 7000 excel lines to
modify. A very tedious work but that paid off, the products are now presented in a way more attractive
way.
Furthermore, in the linguistic part of my work I had to create the content in French and English
for the home page. For instance, I created sentences with wordplay inside such as this one: “Pia de
Lancel - blushes for you”. The product was released in the blush color, I teased the reader with a
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sentence that could be understood as the bag blushing for them or as the color blush being for them
“blush is for you”. I liked doing so, using words I could attract the people and improve the sales.
2.8 Visuals and photo shooting
I talked about the photo shooting file earlier this file helping to get track of the new or old
products needing visuals. Some products are shot in pre-collection so when they arrive in stock for the
first time, we can already sell them. But it sometimes happens that the product changed between the
moment it was first shown and how it looks in the end then it needs a new visual. For example, a wallet
from the new collection had a pom-pom on the flap at first but the production and marketing
departments decided to remove it for practical reasons. Therefore, I had to send the product in question
to the photographer.
However, there are rules about the photo studio I cannot send a less than 30 products for one
day of shooting. Otherwise it is not financially maximized. When there is an urgency about one product
needing visuals there are three solutions. Solution number one is to make a colorization if there is a
similar product but on a different color. Passing from white to blue for example. The possibility number
two is to resize the product if we have the same but in a different size. Finally, the third solution is to ask
the photographer to pass by the showroom and takes pictures of the said product.
Screenshot of the “Piwigo” platform of the Photo Studio
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Preparing photo shooting is a several step journey. First, I need to identify all the products
needing pictures using the “Photo shooting follow up” and “OUT” files that I presented earlier. When I
have a list of at least 30 products (up to 35 for one day) I have to make sure with the person in charge of
the stock at the e-commerce warehouse that all the products are actually here so that she would
prepare them and put them aside. It is a necessary step because it happens that products are misplaced.
When this is done, I can finally contact the photo studio and gave them the list of products for which I
need visuals. On this list are present the references of each products, their dimensions, colors, line, and
the visuals we need (from the front, side, back, up…) sometimes, only complementary visuals are
needed. When all is done, a delivery date is set, and the products are sent for the photo shooting. When
the pictures are taken, I have to check them for editing and receive the edited visuals days later. When
this is complete, I can finally demand a transfer for the products from the photo studio to the ecommerce warehouse.
Between the moments the products leave the stock without visuals and are available on sale on
the website, there is three weeks if not more. And this is when all go swiftly, there can be delay because
of the transportation, missing or defective products… I realized that just having to add visuals to
products can be an exhausting task. Missing visuals is harming the e-commerce because the products
cannot be sold even though they are here. So, I explained the problem to my manager and the
communication department (who is in charge of the pre-collection photo shoot) and together we
decided to the pictures the exact same way it is presented on the website for more coherence and to
shoot more products than the ones for the commercials. Therefore, the less time and money will be lost.
2.9 Market development coordinator
I talked about the “COMP” file (all the product descriptions file) and the visuals. I had to prepare
them on the proper format in order to put them on the website but not only. I was in charge of
providing out partner marketplaces with all they needed to sell the products (descriptions and visuals). I
was also providing this information to all the other services within Lancel. Finally, I was helping to
develop the company on the Chinese market for their online presence (Weibo, Tmall) and delivering the
videos and campaigns visuals for them to use on the Chinese soil.
I liked that experience because it got me to work with people from all around the world (Italian,
Chinese, Russian, Lebanese…). I could discover some different work ethics and notions of due dates,
very different from one country to another.
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All these missions really taught me a lot, I did not know how challenging it was to run a website
and constantly updating the content. But even though it was complex at first, I got more and more
missions over time as everyone was really satisfied with my work. I was able to advance in the task and
provide good content using what I learned at school and listening to the advice of my manager.
Le Huit by Lancel – Small, color Camel
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3 Analysis and Evaluation
3.1 SWOT analysis
Strengths
Brand and history
Quality of products and services
Multiple distribution channels
Positioning
Weaknesses
Past strategies
New materiel choices
Online Presence
Low margins
Lower innovation rate
Opportunities
Non-evolving current competition
New buying behavior
New markets
Threats
The new Premium competition
New buying behavior
Difficulties to attract new customers
3.1.1 Strengths
Brand and history
Lancel is a strong and well-established brand in luxury leather goods. They have a lot of
customers that are regulars who own several bags from the brand and frequently come back. As a deeprooted marque in the French luxury landscape, Lancel pass in priority in front of other brands to get
corners in multi-brands shops such as the Galeries Lafayette, Printemps or Harrods. Lancel is a wellappreciated brand by French, Russian and Eastern Asian customers. Historically Lancel is a brand that
created a lot of bag designs and carrying techniques (over 100 patents) 8 they have a certain authority in
the industry. Many leather goods industry companies inspired themselves from the Lancel’s creations
(Cartier, Prada, Chloe and others).
Quality of products and services
All the Lancel’s products are of great quality and are easily recognized by the public. The made in
France and made in Italy of the products is a good guarantee in the mind of customers. Also, the services
8
Book « Lancel – Maison parisienne depuis 1876 » (in French)
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proposed by Lancel in their shops, customer services, after sales or advice are set to be outstanding by
the direction. Lancel invests a lot of money in customer services. Moreover, in the mind of the new
direction keeping the quality high is more than crucial. Because even if they want to replace the
company as a premium brand, they want to keep the quality and services standards of luxury brands.
Multiple sales channels
Lancel sells through different distribution channels and touches a huge number of customers
from different markets. The retail department is the strong branch of the company now. They are
present in more than 60 locations in France alone. They represent more than half of the benefits of the
brand. The Galeries Lafayette and Printemps are working with Lancel placing the corners of the brand in
some of their best spots. Also, the wholesale part of the firm is very strong and continually growing.
Finally, the business other distribution channel is the e-commerce on the Lancel’s website and on their
partner’s webpage.
Positioning
Nowadays the positioning of the brand, even though quite ambiguous, is a strong point for
Lancel. They are in between luxury and premium even if the new strategy is now shifting toward the
premium.
3.1.2 Weaknesses
Past strategies
The past strategies of the brand brought Lancel from a top-earning brand to almost bankrupt. In
the 1990’s Lancel was one of the most selling brands in the leather goods industry. In 1997 the company
got purchased by the Richemont Group who decided to organize a reorientation of the brand strategy. It
was a bad decision that still affects the brand nowadays who, since then, had to close over 100 stores
and lost a big part of its market.
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New materials choice
Another weakness is the choice of material that was changed in order to cut the cost. Lancel had
until a few months ago some of the same suppliers as brands like Chanel! But with the new strategy, the
production costs became too high. Therefore, it was decided to change suppliers and go for less
expensive ones. However, it backlashed with clients complaining about the quality and the price/quality
ratio. It becomes problematic as the regular clients are moving away from the brand.
Online Presence
The social media presence of Lancel is weak consequently they encounter difficulties reaching to
new customers especially the youngest ones. The customers of Lancel are the ones who already know
the brand, many are going to other brands because they do not receive extra or fresh information from
the brand. Therefore, they have difficulties attracting new clients. Something needs to be changed
especially that the new strategy is really aiming for younger people. An age range that is constantly
using social media will not be reached using traditional advertisement.
Low margins
Even though the costs are cut the margins are quite low as the prices were incessantly
decreased in order to attract a higher number of customers. Moreover, many products are sold through
partners who are getting really high commissions.
Lower innovation rate
Lancel used to be an extremely innovative brand setting the trend of the industry around the
world truly representing the French savoir-faire. Nevertheless, nowadays the brand is more following
the trend just going for products that prove themselves on the market.
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3.1.3 Opportunities
Non-evolving current competition
The current competition of Lancel is composed of older brands that have failed, for most of
them, to adapt to the new customers and to the digital era. They are well-established brands, so they
still function but only thanks to their fame. However, their sales are quickly declining, and
restructuration is happening. Moreover, a great number of companies that are the future competition
of Lancel are also going downhill. So Lancel has the opportunity to arrive on the premium market for the
luxury one offer different products on that market.
New buying behavior
Even if Lancel is currently quite absent on an online point of view they are rapidly evolving
especially the e-commerce department. Which is interesting because more and more people all around
the globe are buying online or at least consulting the website before going to the shop or going to the
boutique after finding it online. Consequently, having a rapidly developing online department is
primordial.
New markets
There are new markets and new categories appearing in the luxury and premium goods
universe. Especially on the leather goods industry, with the current social trends people are looking for
the alternative to leathery products. Products in textile or bark are being developed. Besides, it is not
only about the materials used it is as well about the type of products. Different kinds of products can be
developed by a brand like Lancel. The demand is already present. Accessories like gloves, hat, or
watches can be developed as Lancel used to do in the past. Or even products for the pet, in the early
2000’s one of Lancel best seller was a dog bag.
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3.1.4 Threats
The new premium competition
By deciding to shift from the luxury to the premium market, Lancel is entering a universe they
are not familiar with and that was never linked to the brand. It is a new step that could make regular
customers move away from the brand. The new opponents in this market shares are well known by the
premium clients. Therefore, these brands are a threat for Lancel. Brands as Coach, and Michael Kors are
now on same level as Lancel, they have tendency to monopolize all the advertising space so it might be
hard for a newcomer to exist.
New buying behavior
As it is an opportunity, it is also a threat, the customers’ new buying behavior can become a
nightmare for Lancel if they do not continue in developing their e-commerce and social medias. The
Customer Relationship Management department (CRM) needs to improve if they do not want to miss
out.
Difficulty to attract new customers
Lancel has become less innovative during the last decade, and the younger generations are
increasingly attracted by innovative products. Moreover, uniqueness and unlikeliness of products have a
predisposition on appealing to younger customers. People are less and less interested by the
mainstream as everyone wants to be distinctive from the crowd.
3.1.5 Conclusions
Lancel is well anchored in the French luxury landscape and is known for the quality of its
products. But by going to the premium market, they expose themselves to companies that can produce
much larger number of bags and at cheaper costs. And even if they will sell at a lower price people will
still expect very high-quality products as it is Lancel branded. The online presence of the brand and the
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choice of the new material can be compensated by an evolution of the brand on the social media and
the quality of the products by their new competitors.
The conclusion of this SWOT analysis would be that Lancel finds itself at an intersection in their
path to a successful future. There are several roads to their aim, however, the other ways are leading
towards a certain failure. The brand is getting stronger on the last couple of years, but they are not
protected from breaking down as it happened in the past to them or to many other brands. The most
difficult part now is to make sure that they seize the opportunities that are there, especially the buying
behavior of their new target group and their new competitors. Nevertheless, they should make sure that
they do not go too fast and just for this additional new target group because their current customer
could feel left aside and go for another brand. Consequently, Lancel should be careful about how they
reach to their new clients as well as how they will evolve on social media.
Ninon de Lancel – Medium, color black
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3.2 Porter 5 Forces Analysis
The Porter’s Five Forces Analysis was developed to understand and comprehend the business
environment of a company and prepare a strategy to be profitable.
3.2.1
Bargaining Power of Suppliers – Weak
One of the advantages brought by the globalization to the leather goods companies is the
number of suppliers. All types of qualities and leathers are available on the market. This is good for
Lancel as they are the ones with a bargaining power over the skin suppliers. They can choose the one
that will offer the best quality/price ratio according to the allocated budget and to the product’s
characteristics.
Most of tanneries in the leather goods industry are of relatively small sizes especially in regard
to the companies they provide the leather to. There are a lot of these enterprises, however, the demand
is fairly high which offers them a little bit of weights in the negotiations but the main power they have
during the talks is their experience working with the brand or with similar brands.
What a supplier can do in the leather goods industry another can do it quite similarly without
quality or time loss especially if the demands are common. And this is the case for skin supply (calfskin,
exotic, goat…), metal pieces or textiles. Suppliers are aware of that also know that someone, somewhere
will always do it cheaper than them.
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For Lancel, it is important to have suppliers from France, Italy or Spain that are known for the
quality of their luxury leather goods. Luckily, within these three countries there are a lot of providers.
So, it is easy to switch from one to another. It is common for companies to switch suppliers in that
industry. Plus, the cost of changing is not monetarily high, but there might be some defects on the first
products produced.
In overall, the bargaining power of Lancel’s suppliers is not a threat as it is not strong.
3.2.2 Bargaining Power of Customers – Strong
There was a saying I heard during meetings at Lancel or when I met people from other brands
during photo shooting sessions or socialite event, “there are as many customers as there are women in
the world”. This means that leather goods companies really see and think every woman can or want to
be their customers. Reality is, however, slightly different in the sense that this likelihood is contrasted by
the purchasing power. Even if everyone can meet their desires with all existing line in many different
colors, size or materials.
Lancel’s customers have high standards regarding the quality of the products and services from
the brand. Lancel’s customers are not really price sensitive, they are willing to pay a higher price
however they really expect everything else to follow. Now, Lancel went from luxury to premium so they
lowered their prices but they customers’ expectations are unchanged. So, Lancel has to comply and
provide high standard products and services. For example, when a customer purchases a bag in a Lancel
boutique, one sales person will take care of them from the start to the end the end of the transaction.
The client will receive advices on what bag to choose according to the person’s desire, once the product
is purchased, it will be placed in an elegant packaging in the red color of the brand. Also, when this is
done, the salesperson will walk to the door of the shop with the customer while carrying the product.
Moreover, if the client wishes to, they can have their bag, wallet or luggage personalized with their
initials or other.
Each order on a B2C level is, in average, between one and two products per purchase. On a B2B
level it is much higher, but it highly depends on the size of the wholesaler. Regularly, customers do not
buy more than two products at once, even if during special events like Christmas, Valentine Day,
Mother’s Day or Father’s Day the average purchase goes more toward three products at a time. And
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then, there are the Sales Period during which the same customer can purchase more than six or seven
items at a time.
Because the bargaining power of Lancel’s customer is strong the company adapted to their
demands in order to keep them. The direction knows that the competition is out there expecting a
mistake from their competitors to get their hands on new customers so they do all to keep their current
clients. Moreover, Lancel knows that it is complicated and expensive to acquire new customers and
even harder to change target group.
To put it in a nutshell, the bargaining power of Lancel’s customers is strong and it is costly to the
company.
3.2.3 Threat of New Entrants – Weak
The luxury and premium markets are extremely hard to enter. It takes a lot of time and money
for a company to have an impact there. Nevertheless, good marketing and customer relation
management can make an impact in the minds of customers for them to place a certain brand I category
that is not theirs. For example, Michael Kors placed everything on the marketing, and it worked as they
were immediately placed as a high premium brand even if the quality and services were not following.
The thing is that Lancel is now in the position of the new entrant but not a regular one, they already
have a strong name and are well known. They are passing from Luxury to Premium market. They already
have the expertise and the knowledge of the market, they adapted a part of their prices to what their
competitors are doing. Therefore, they probably have a lower margin than their new competitors.
However, the reputation of Lancel in term of quality and services is higher than most of the
other brand in that premium leather goods market as most of the companies there are fairly new.
Furthermore, Lancel’s competitors on the premium market mainly produce in China, Vietnam or
Bangladesh. Countries of origins that customers do not necessarily fancy, they want their products to
come from Europe especially if it involves spending a consequent amount a money.
In conclusion, Lancel could be a threat for the companies already in market as long as they take
the right decisions. Objectively, Lancel is protected from new entrants in the market as it has really high
entry barriers especially for companies coming from under Premium. Subsequently, the threat, here, is
not so strong.
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3.2.4 Threat of Substitute Products – Weak
The leather goods markets are filled up with similar products declined in slightly different
shapes, colors and names by different brands. So, the substitute for each model are countless and as
soon as something new appears and is successful it is just a matter of time before a substitute appears
and often it will be better. However, in that industry there is often the rule of “first arrived first served”
as all the substitutes will be referred to or looked as copies of the original one. Then, even though the
number of substitutes is high they do not necessarily represent a huge threat. The production of leather
goods can be outsourced but it is better to keep the production in countries well seen by the customers.
Nevertheless, a brand like Lancel cannot just copy what is successful. They have to come back
their roots and innovate. They have to lead by the innovation in order not to be the follower. It actually
cost more money to create substitutes, but brands do it because they believe it will instantly work and
that it has much fewer changes to fail than new products.
In conclusion, the threat of substitute products is not really high and is necessary for this market
to function.
3.2.5 Competitive Rivalry within the industry – Very strong
The number of competitors is relatively high in the premium market, more than in the luxury
one. So, it makes it harder for the brand to differentiate from all the others by finding something no one
else is doing. Lancel differentiates itself by having products of higher quality, and it is planned to stay
that way. One of the main differences between the premium and luxury brands is how they market their
products. Some are using the social medias, others use more traditional ways while a few uses the word
of mouth.
A good point for Lancel is that their customers are really loyal which is not the case for most of
the other premium brands. They regularly come back to buy new products, however the space between
one purchase to the other is really long, several months to over a year according to the clients.
But the rivalry for the market share is extremely fierce especially in the retail market where all
companies massively invest that is why the weakest brands had to close a lot of point of sales lately.
That is why Lancel is also working on the development of its e-commerce. This explains why the website
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of the brand is solely mercantile and not a presentation of the brand like most of the other leather
companies do.
The competitive rivalry within the industry is high and ferocious. Eventually, this pushes Lancel
toward the right path for their success.
3.2.6 Conclusions
All things considered, the situation is quite positive for Lancel. It is not ideal yet, but they are on
the right track. They have a certain advantage over their suppliers, and they are carefully listening to
their customers. They are seen as a threat by its new competitors so they should make sure to be the
ones who innovate because of their low margins and reputation. Looking at their business environment
it is fair to believe that Lancel will succeed in their reorientation.
Pia de Lancel – Small, color Black/Snow
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3.3 McKinsey 7S Framework
3.3.1 Strategy
Lancel’s strategy is to develop their current image of having high quality products and services
to gain market shares in the premium leather goods market they just moved into. They used to be the
creative brand providing a different product to its customers, items useful for their life, objects made for
the clients, they were original, colorful with a little pinch of pertness. Lancel is on its way to be
innovative again. Since 1997, when they were purchased by the Richemont Group, the brand released
one or two lines of new bags per year and were more about following the trend. Now, the brand will
present four new lines every year following the fashion calendar, this way they adapt to their new
competitors and to the desire of their customers to have more choice. Lancel made the choice to focus
on the retail sales with the brick and mortar stores and where to place them but they did not forget the
e-commerce that is still young and that the brand wants to develop further.
To be consistent with the marketing and sales objectives, Lancel is working on its industrial
strategy, the current production is located in several places and many savings can be obtained by
reducing transportation and storage. Lancel is centralizing the production of the new and existing lines
nearby Bologna and Florence in Italy. Also, quality problems would considerably delay the production as
the origin of a problem would first need to be discovered then fixed. The target is to improve the
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production cycle by 30% when all will be fully operational, also to reduce quality default by 50%. The
main objective here being to reduce the time to market. This will allow the brand to have higher margins
and produce items that the market already like and also propose more innovative products at a faster
pace.
This strategy puts the pressure on Lancel competitors, and the brand does not converse much
about what the others are doing. They study the trends but not necessarily one competitor in particular.
But there is one thing that Lancel takes very seriously, the customers demand. That is why Lancel is now
having four product lines per year. Moreover, Lancel decided to invest a lot in the customer relation
service as well as in studies to understand toward where the customers are going to.
Lancel is really aware of the environmental issues, however it is a leather goods company. They
are conscious that they are not necessarily the most environmentally friendly. That is why they are
looking at more sustainable ways to produce their products especially regarding the preparation and
coloring of the skins.
Lancel overall strategies is to come back to their innovative roots while answering the needs of
their clients.
3.3.2 Structure
Lancel is divided into services that are the following: Communication, Customer Relationship
Management (CRM for social media), Customer Relation, Design, E-commerce, Finance, Human
Resources, Marketing, Merchandising, Press Relation, Production, Quality, Retail, Supply, and
Wholesale. Each department has a main manager/director and this person is directly in contact with the
CEO. CRM, Communication and Merchandising are the same big open space, like E-commerce,
wholesale and e-commerce are together. The other services are in their own office.
Since Lancel was acquired by Piquadro last year the hierarchy is really flat. At the arrival of the
Italian company, the whole board of directors was removed. So now there are only three layers in the
company employees and project managers at the basis, managers and director then the CEO.
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It allows the information to travel faster and the decisions to be taken more quickly. Also, on
some cases, it is possible for the employees to directly address the CEO. A situation quite rare for
companies like Lancel. The employees feel that what they have to say will be taken into account
especially if it is for the good of the company. Decisions making is decentralized however important
decisions are taken during the monthly business review.
The internal communication needs to be improved as many miscommunication problems occur
weekly. Especially regarding the strategy on what product to push and when. For that matter, services
such as CRM, E-commerce, Marketing and Supply should be more interconnected. At the moment each
service does their things on their corner. They do report it monthly to the CEO but do not always ask for
every decision, which is logical. However, services have to talk with each other in order to present
coherent actions. For example, a product should not be pushed by the marketing and the CRM if the
supply tells that there are no stock because it will create frustration in the mind of the customers
because they would go to the website or the store and the product would not be available.
The decision making is decentralized but it is centralized once a month during the business
review. The decisions are assessed, if too many decisions were taken in one service another manager
will be nominated to help or the CEO will directly intervene. The CEO is more looking at the big lines are
really developing the partnerships and productions of the new products.
Finally, the communication lines within the company are explicit and defined monthly during a
meeting with all the services. The structure of the Lancel is really beneficial to the company
nevertheless, the inter services interactions should be developed in order to avoid miscommunication in
the future.
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3.3.3 Systems
The whole company is working on a system that belongs to the Richemont Group (they are
slowly transferring it to the Piquadro Group). It is an internal network on which all the documents and
archive are stored. Generally, people work on their computer then before leaving, at the end of their
shift, their transfer everything to the network where other will have access to it. However, that network
is fairly close, most of the employees and managers do not have access to everything. This shows even
more how the decisions are made inside each service, but these decisions are made following a predefined plan. Everyone in the company is very autonomous. The Human Resources service is entirely
focused on the paychecks, the hiring and the absences they do not have other roles in the company.
The company is controlled and has its finances and stocks monitored by Deloitte. They come to
the company every six months in order to see if everything is according to the record.
There are no real internal rules except to respect the image of the brand. Every daily decision is
made internally within each service.
3.3.4 Shared Values
Lancel’s core values are the following, Ingenuity, Authenticity, Contemporariness, Delight, and
Boldness. They need to be ingenious in the design of the products, authentic in the luxury and quality of
the products and services. They have to be contemporary in the creation while being timeless. Also, they
have to offer delight with the beauty of the products and the stores. And finally have to be bold in the
innovation to bring fantasy to answer the customers’ needs.
The culture of the company is based on their manifesto, it is to always be in the spirit of its time,
and permanently being authentic to the brand. Forever being innovative. But what is even more
important is the improvement. “At Lancel we have always known that luxury only creates style if it also
breeds progress.” (Lancel’s Manifesto)
All these values are fundamental to the functioning of the company, every employee
understand them and also work to make them better. All decisions are made according to these
fundamental ideas in the way that Lancel must be authentic to itself following the path set by its past.
This means to be an innovative brand well anchored in the present while providing a timeless elegance.
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3.3.5 Style
The management style at Lancel is highly participative where managers and even the CEO are
really listening to everyone’s idea. Even more now that the company is in restructuration. There are
weekly meetings between the marketing, communication, CRM and e-commerce services to explain
how to coordinate everything and everyone can give ideas on how to improve. If the idea is effective
and relevant, it will be taken into account and realized, if possible. Even the interns can express
themselves and they will be listened by managers. One other thing, when the idea function, the
manager will not take the credit, the full credit will go to the one who had the idea.
This style of management is really effective because every single employee feels involved. It
creates a good harmony within each service since no one is left alone or pushed aside. It is reasonable to
think that some people would try to abuse this situation however nothing like this is happening.
The situation is also a bit tricky as everyone within the same team is very cooperative in order to
make their service look good. But some services are quite competitive with others and it is not always
reciprocal. For example, the team members of the Retail service are really dedicated to do it all for their
service, but they see themselves in competition with the e-commerce, so they are not complaisant with
that department of the company. They see them as a threat, stealing they customers when they
actually should work together for the good of the company. But in overall most of the services work well
with each other.
Lancel is composed of real functioning teams that are independent however, there is a
communication problem between the team. Because even if everyone follows the same values everyone
is not necessarily aligned on the same strategy, for example not all the same product pushed
everywhere in the same time.
3.3.6 Staff
All teams are well balanced even if the e-commerce team could need an extra member. And in
overall the company would need someone to take care of the coordination between the service to make
sure that all suit the company’s strategy.
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3.3.7 Skills
It is difficult to say which skills are the most represented in the company. One trait can be found
around in the company, the loyalty. All employees are extremely loyal to the brand. And by being
attached to the brand they follow its values of quality in producing great products and providing high
standard services to the customers.
However there two skills objectively lacking, especially in the highest position of the company,
the communication and listening. This is easily observable during important monthly business review
where an idea is expressed and clearly received differently by everyone present.
Despite this communication problem the company is well known for the quality and originality
of its products. This is because the shared values are deeply rooted in the mind of every employees. It is
also because the employees are carefully selected before being hired so that everyone at Lancel is very
qualified and capable of doing their job really well.
Moreover, Lancel has an application for phone and tablets called “Lancel Inside”. Almost
everyone in the company has this game and is often playing it. This game allows the players to test their
knowledge of everything in the company and on every service. There is a weekly quiz with a specific
theme that will then rank the employees according to their scores. The ones with the best scores will
receive rewards and the ones with the lowest scores will receive little lessons by email on what they got
wrong. Furthermore, each employee can challenge anyone else in the company on duel of questions, it
is fun and educative. It also helps the managers to see if someone in their team needs help on a specific
topic.
With this app and discussions Lancel found a great way to assess and monitor the skills of
everyone in the company. Additionally, because it is a game, the people are self-motivated as they want
to do better, this way they also improve on their work.
3.3.8 Conclusions
In conclusion of this McKinsey 7s Framework, Lancel is well balanced even though more
communication to bring better coordination between services could be a positive addition to the brand.
The 7S are well aligned with the strategy of the brand even if some improvements are still possible
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especially on the systems and in the industrial strategy. Furthermore, the company assesses well the
knowledge and needs of their employees by listening effectively to them.
Example of Lancel’s advertisement showing joy and cheekiness
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4 Critical Analysis
4.1 Company
During my internship I had the incredible opportunity to work with all different services at Lancel
(E-commerce, Marketing, Retail, CRM, Communication, Supply, Quality…). This allowed me to see and
discover the company from inside and from outside with all my researches. This produced a comparative
reasoning allowing me to produce a discovery report. Lancel is a company with a fantastic historical
background that greatly impacted their industry and market. They rapidly declined during the last
decade up to the point to be sold by the Richemont Group to the Piquadro Group.
Now, with its new owners Lancel starts on a new ground with the idea to come back to its roots.
It is in this situation that I observed everything rapidly changing. I saw new designs come up based on
the observation for the new target group. They are oriented toward the image of the brand and the
premium market. Until not long ago, Lancel was in the luxury market. The retail department of the
brand is really strong and is the major source of income of the company. But the wholesale and the ecommerce are important for the new owners as it is important on the premium market. The two brands
of the new possessors of Lancel are Piquadro and The Bridge, two Italian companies specialized in the
premium market. That is why the directors of the group want to bring Lancel to the premium market
because it is what they know. Moreover, they want to use the image of Lancel to develop their brand
where Lancel already is.
In three to five years I see Lancel becoming a company like Coach or Longchamp if the strategies
put in place by the new direction work. In the last decade, Lancel used to release one line or two lines of
bags per year. This is not a common practice among brands in the leather goods industry, they generally
follow the fashion calendar with four lines a year. Starting Fall/Winter 2019 Lancel will release four lines
of bags. In these lines, there is a classical one that will please their current customers, an intermediary
line that could attract both the current and new customers, a line just for new customers and finally a
more line innovative line because Lancel wants to come back to its roots.
So, in three to five years, the company will have a greater number of brick and mortar stores
between two and five more, but where the brand will have expended a lot is internationally through the
wholesale department of the company. The new owners really want to develop the market places and
corners in multi-brands stores like Nordstrom, Bloomingdale’s or Fifth avenue in North America, Harrods
in England, Karstadt and Breuninger in Germany and T-mall in China. Thanks to this expansion the brand
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will have access to a much greater audience and special limited-edition lines will be made per
distributors. It will greatly benefit the brand!
Additionally, the brand will develop its online presence by bringing back the stock of the ecommerce with the central stock. Therefore, there will be no more constant out of stock plus the stock
and transportation costs will be decreased passing from two locations to one. Also, the e-commerce will
be developed as it is important on the premium leather goods market to be present on the world wide
web. It is planned that it permanently because the number one point of sale for Lancel as it is for most
of the premium brand.
Finally, the production will be centralized (like what Zara did) near Bologna in Italy in order to
have more control and to produce faster.
Eventually, the company will reach its objective and succeed in the premium market even if I
believe that the upcoming year will be complicated. I believe that the people in position are competent
and that they believe in the values of the brand and are loyal to it. I think that Lancel has all the
ingredients to do well and be a major actor of the premium leather goods market.
4.2 Personal
On a personal basis, this internship was extremely useful for me. It made realized what I could
pretend to, where I was good and more important where I still needed to improve. I could observe the
importance of the perseverance as well as of the creativity. The internship completed what I learned
during my classes.
First of all, I really learned and improve my use of several software and tools such as Microsoft
Excel, MicroStrategy, Google My Business, Google Analytics, sales reports and more. I learned how to
analyses and produce sales reports. I learned about design, sales, marketing, supply chain, production,
retail, customer relation, communication and even about photo shooting. The fact that I was able to
touch to everything really helped me and liberated my mind. At the start of my internship, when I was
stuck with the same repetitive tasks, I got bored and unmotivated, these tasks were really operational.
But then I got more missions where I could develop my own ideas where I could look for solutions.
Missions for which I had to interact with people where I was not stuck behind my desk.
My manager received a lot of feedback about me especially on my way to communicate with
people and to explain what I wanted. I was told that I would be good as trend watcher where it is about
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relationship, convincing people or in consulting. I wanted to go for a career in relation to the
international possibly in the marketing field. But the important part for me was to have a job that allows
me to have a lot of interactions with people from all around the world. So, the feedback I had about me
really confirmed this relationship side. Moreover, I really enjoyed it when my missions brought me to
converse with Chinese, Italians, Lebanese or even Russians because I had to adapt and provide the
information differently.
Doing this internship helped me confirm something I only guessed in the past, I would rather not
have a desk job. I have absolutely no problem doing desk job and analysis I even enjoy it and it is crucial
for any kind of missions. However, I would not like to exclusively do a job sitting behind my computer on
excel sheets.
In terms of departments I know I do not necessarily fancy the supply chain management, I know
it is extremely important for any company, but I do not believe that I would be great at it. Same for the
finance and accounting departments. I would like to work in something that would allow me to bring
solutions and solve problems.
In overall, during this internship at Lancel, I grew as a human being, an adult and a worker to be.
I learned a lot on how to communicate with partners and inside the company. I had a certain point of
view of myself before these six months. A perspective that has changed, now, I do have a lot more
confidence in my choices. I trust more my ability to create relationship with others in a working
environment. This experience really comforted me in my choices for the future to be in a field with a lot
of real interaction and on an international level.
5 Conclusions
In conclusions to this report, I would say that I learned a lot about myself, the company and the
working life. During my other internships, I stayed in my department and did not have the opportunity
to wander around and discover more about the companies I was working for. At Lancel, my manager
allowed me to discover it all by myself and let me develop my own projects and I was not expecting this
at the start of the six months. I was really glad to be able to do so, it really motivated me again, because
I was feeling stuck in my tasks, but she showed me that even in having only one mission it is still possible
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commerce could be useful to the whole company and not solely to the digital. The omnichannel gift card
or the Google project emerged from this. Additionally, with the trust of my manager I came to talk to all
the services explaining what the e-commerce was doing and what we were doing, on how we could help
them and reciprocally. I also visited some physical stores like the one at Opéra and did a day of sale with
them to be in contact with the salesmen and the customers, it taught me a lot and brought me closer to
them and to the company. This created more synergy between the services and stores with the ecommerce.
The relationship between the retail and the e-commerce has not always been as flourishing as it
was at the end of my internship. Before I arrived and until the start of December the retail department
was always mistrustful and uncooperative, accusing the e-commerce of being harmful to them. But after
presenting the advantages of cooperation the two services got closer and are now working together and
getting closer. Bringing cohesion and complementarity is an important step, especially in the context of
a company that just got acquired.
It was interesting for me to see how a takeover affects the company as a whole and particularly
its staff. My intern status protected me and allowed me to act quite fearlessly in this very anxious
atmosphere. Despite the fact that everyone was unsure of what their future would be made of, I was
able to observe the astonishing quality provided in the creation of products and in the services to clients
bringing me to see the common values between the French and the Italian companies of the Group.
Even if it might not be easy along the way I see Lancel and Piquadro well-functioning together. I saw a
lot of solidarity between employees when things were not necessarily at their best. This experience
showed me the different facets of the life of a company, from the fear of failing to the success of a new
line passing by the making phase or the planning step, a very enriching experience.
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6 Recommendations
The company could sustainably and consistently improve its position and growth in the premium
leather goods sector along two axes: communicational and organizational. First, by affirming a systemic
communication strategy (external and internal) around the brand's history, craftsmanship and customer
service. Secondly, by seeking an organizational strategy of collective and territorial intelligence, mainly
in the French-Italian axis, within the services. The strategic objective of the communication, aimed at
consumers, is to support the company towards an innovative enhancement of the historical brand for its
new products as well as for its old products. In addition, the strategic objective of the internal
organization of the services is to encourage the company to strengthen the complementarity between
employees by a better sharing of information and brand issues in a world of digital advent. To be
effective, these strategic axes must include an analysis of the socio-technical transformations of
contemporary consumption at the national and international levels. The traditional markers of luxury
and premium consumers - generational, social, economic, geographical, cultural and gender - are
impacted by major cross-cutting social, political and cultural issues that concern consumers in our
societies. Luxury and premium products are no exception to this awareness among consumers who are
increasingly concerned about sustainable development and who do not hesitate to add new socioenvironmental criteria to select their purchases. The act of buying is also experienced through the filter
of ethics, values of sharing, transmission, craftsmanship, quality products and personalized services.
These values exist at Lancel. They should be given a better place in the strategy so that this
ethical premium approach becomes a driver of progress and competitiveness for the company. Another
advantage of this approach is to affirm the company's social commitment to support consumers and
employees towards a more sustainable economic, social and environmental model. Lancel has many
assets to strengthen the group's strategy. It can be based on three development axes in line with the
company's values: the history of the brand, product quality and the communication.
Recommendation 1: Use the brand's optimistic and ethical history that has accompanied women's lives
in the public and professional world. Show through its products, principles, advertisements, museum,
heritage, the modernist and aesthetic approach of fashion products created to affirm the place of
women in public life.
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Recommendation 2: Demonstrate the savoir-faire of French and Italian quality leather goods with the
impeccable quality of workmanship, the quality of resistance, functionality and aesthetics of the bags,
which make them iconic products of excellence, easily recognizable by the logo, textures and models.
Customized fashion products that are timeless. French and Italian products that can be identified and
personalized through excellent merchandising.
Recommendation 3: Put the sustainable economic, social and environmental model at the heart of the
company and the brand. Deploy it across services by improving communication and sharing common
development issues between services. Integrate a digital and E-merchandising policy to convey a digital
culture - broader than E-commerce - that is part of the brand's past, present and future history.
7 Bibliography
Lancel – Parisian Maison since 1876. Directed by Laurence Benaïm published in 2016 - English version
Lancel – Maison Parisienne depuis 1876. Directed by Laurence Benaïm published in 2016 – French
version
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