Title: French luxury companies: Challenge to do E-Commerce withoutaffecting their brand image Authors: Clément LEMAIRE and Paul LASSALLE Supervisor: Jean-Charles Languilaire Level: Bachelor Thesis in Business Administration, Marketing Key words: Marketing, E-commerce, E-merchandising, E-CRM, Louis Vuitton, Luxury market, French market, Website, Brand and Reputation Purpose: How French luxury companies, in a context of changing demand, use the e-commerce without affecting the image of their brand? Method: In the method we explain that we decide to use a descriptive method of research. We collect secondary data from our University Library and primary data from our observation of Louis Vuitton website. We also explain why we choose this company and what the limits of our study are. Theoretical framework: In a first part, we have written all the definitions and information about definitions that we have used in the empirical part. It means E-Commerce, E-Merchandising, Marketing mix and ECRM. Then, we have given some information about website elements as the first page, the graphic website, buying process, electronic payment and website security. Finally, we have defined all the information about the brand and its different powers on the market: We start by a “brand awareness” explication, then we have defined “how is build a brand” to finish by the topic “band and reputation”. Conclusions: We present the answer of our purpose. French Luxury companies use marketing tools in order to protect the image of their brand when they do e-commerce. We also bring some suggestions to Louis Vuitton and give some critics concerning our study. Finally we open our reflexion to related studies that could be interesting to do.

<p>Title: French luxury companies: Challenge to do E-Commerce withoutaffecting their brand image</p><p>Authors: Clément LEMAIRE and Paul LASSALLE</p><p>Supervisor: Jean-Charles Languilaire</p><p>Level: Bachelor Thesis in Business Administration, Marketing</p><p>Key words: Marketing, E-commerce, E-merchandising, E-CRM, Louis Vuitton, Luxury market, French market, Website, Brand and Reputation</p><p>Purpose: How French luxury companies, in a context of changing demand, use the e-commerce without affecting the image of their brand?</p><p>Method: In the method we explain that we decide to use a descriptive method of research. We collect secondary data from our University Library and primary data from our observation of Louis Vuitton website. We also explain why we choose this company and what the limits of our study are.</p><p>Theoretical framework: In a first part, we have written all the definitions and information about definitions that we have used in the empirical part. It means E-Commerce, E-Merchandising, Marketing mix and ECRM. Then, we have given some information about website elements as the first page, the graphic website, buying process, electronic payment and website security. Finally, we have defined all the information about the brand and its different powers on the market: We start by a “brand awareness” explication, then we have defined “how is build a brand” to finish by the topic “band and reputation”.</p><p>Conclusions: We present the answer of our purpose. French Luxury companies use marketing tools in order to protect the image of their brand when they do e-commerce. We also bring some suggestions to Louis Vuitton and give some critics concerning our study. Finally we open our reflexion to related studies that could be interesting to do.</p>

Det har blivit alltmer vanligt att företag upprättar en hållbarhetsrapport och något som förväntas av intressenterna. Det krävs att företag tar ett ansvar för att samhället ska kunna drivas mot en hållbar framtid. Företag kan inte bara tänka på sitt ekonomiska ansvar utan även på sitt miljömässiga och sociala ansvar. Tidigare forskning visar att lyxindustrin medinriktning på mode gör ett stort avtryck på miljön, det är främst deras textilproduktion som har en stor negativ påverkan på miljön. Lyxindustrin är även en särskild intressant marknad att undersöka eftersom konsumtionen av lyxvaror vanligtvis inte grundas i ett behov av att köpa kläder utan snarare i ett behov av att uppnå en viss social image. Att lyxindustrin har en stor påverkan på vilka trender som skapas resulterar i att industrin har ett särskilt etiskt och socialt ansvar gentemot samhället. Syftet med studien är att bidra till forskningen om vad lyxkoncerner inom mode kommunicerar avseende sitt ekonomiska, miljömässiga och sociala ansvarstagande i enlighet med GRI i sina hållbarhetsrapporter. Vi har genomfört en kvalitativ innehållsanalys av fyra koncerner som alla verkar inom lyxindustrin. Datamaterialet har inhämtats från koncernernas hållbarhetsrapporter förrapporteringsåret 2019. Studien har en tvärsnittsdesign och utgår från en abduktiv ansats. Vi har sökt efter teman som kan kopplas till studiens analysmodell som är baserad på GRI:s riktlinjer för hållbarhetsrapportering. Studiens resultat och slutsatser visar att koncernerna förmedlar sitt ansvarstagande inom allaområden i sina rapporter. Dock lägger koncernerna störst vikt på det ekonomiska ansvaret följt av det sociala och till sist det miljömässiga ansvaret. Det finns ett fåtal kategorier som inte kommuniceras alls, men vi har också funnit att koncernerna kommunicerar andraområden inom CSR som inte täcks av vår teoretiska modell. Studien har således bidragit till en utveckling av den analysmodell som använts i form av två kategorier som berörkoncernernas material och produktion. / It has become a common feature that companies establish a sustainability report and something that is expected from their stakeholders. It is required that companies take social responsibility in order for society to be driven towards a more sustainable future. Companies can not only think about their financial responsibility but also about their environmental and social responsibility. Previous research shows that the luxury industry, especially the fashion industry, makes a big imprint on the environment; it is mainly their textile production that has a negative impact on the environment. The luxury industry is also a particularly interesting market to explore because the consumption of luxury products is usually not based on a need to buy clothes but rather on a need to achieve a certain social image. The fact that the luxury industry has a major impact on the trends created, results in the industry having a special ethical and social responsibility towards society. The purpose of the study is to contribute to the research on what luxury fashion companies communicate regarding their financial, environmental and social responsibility in accordance with GRI in their sustainability reports. We have conducted a qualitative content analysis of four corporations, all of which operate in the luxury industry. The data material has been obtained from the corporations’ sustainability reports for the reporting year 2019. The study applies a cross-sectional design and is based on an abductive approach. We have searched for themes that can be linked to the study's analysis model which is based on GRI's guidelines for sustainability reporting. The study’s findings and conclusions indicate that the corporations convey their responsibilities in all areas throughout their reports. However, the corporations place the greatest emphasis on the financial responsibility, followed by the social and lastly the environmental responsibility. A few categories are not communicated at all, but we have also found other areas within CSR where the corporations communicate but that are not covered by our theoretical model. The study has thus contributed to an evolution of the analysis model used, two categories have been added that concern the corporations’ materials andproduction. This study is written in Swedish.