CASE STUDIES
A DESK RESEARCH & ETHNOGRAPHIC STUDY
A small European luxury shoe brand is struggling with what should be the ideal start-up retail strategy for their brand, now that they are ready to enter the increasingly affluent China market. Basically should they control their own retail outlets, or work with selected departments stores; and also, where should they be located in terms of cities in China?
Our research through trade interviews, desk research and ethnographic and consumer immersion processes with primary target buyer segments and industry opinion leaders revealed that consignment counters in up-market department stores in first tier cities would be the most cost effective stage one market entry option - and that would also match well with their brand strategy of “exclusivity”.