The time-rich shoppers’ paradise

“When something is very Daslu, it means not only be dressed by the most fashionable boutique in Brazil, but to be part of a particular world.”

The Financial Times, New York, March 2004

Villa Daslu is a luxury retailer placed in the São Paulo City, Brazil, where you can find the most expensive and well-known world brands, as Prada, Luis Vuitton, Dior, Valentino, Chanel and Gucci, and some popular brands which you cannot find anywhere else in Brazil, like Gap and Banana Republic. Daslu just launched its new store, with an area of more than 200,000 square foot and about 118 clothing divisions inside the building.

As the store management says, it has the departments store variety, the size of a shopping mall and exclusivity of a small boutique. However, in contradiction with an ordinary shopping mall, where the customer has no difficulty to walk, the circulation in the newest Daslu store is very difficult; and this was done on purpose. One “department” finishes right on the start of the other and the stairs are not easy to found.

The reason of this layout is to make the consumers get lost in all the luxury products and spend their money. The goal of the managers is to make customers spend the most time possible in the store, that’s why you can find two restaurants, one champagne bar, a spa, a hairdresser and a wide sector of house decoration inside the store. There are sofas everywhere, with huge green areas, where the shoppers can seat and drink a coffee while they’re buying. However, if you want a specific clothe or brand, you can look for the 30 specialized girls that help you find whatever you want and more than 150 people working as sellers.

Analyzing the value proposition of Daslu, we can notice that it’s able to deliver high quality clothes at a very high premium price. Together with this, the costumers have their unique experience of care and entertainment during the purchasing process. There are golf cars that can carry you from the parking lot to the store and, if after buying you want to drink something or have your hair cut, one of the employees can carry you bags to the car. The first floor isn’t allowed for man, so the ladies can feel comfortable to try wherever they want and, if they want change rooms, there will be huge ones waiting for them.

People who buy at Daslu want more than a clothe, they want to be seen there! Girls want to tell their friends that they bought that dress at Daslu and enjoy all the services the store can offer during the purchase process.

But its RVP it isn’t strong just in the experience and the premium prices; as you could notice, it is also about selection. They have a strategy of a dominant assortment of the most well-known brands in the world, and, if the consumers are not satisfied with this, Daslu has its own brand as well, that as far as data had shown, didn’t cannibalize the other brands; it is just another opinion!

Concluding, Daslu is a retailer that knows how to differentiate itself from its closer competitors and to build a respectful catalog of brands in the store, being able to deliver the variety and depth their customers want, with experience and uniqueness, transforming it in a way of dressing. In my opinion, it is a successful retailer which knows very well its retail value proposition and delivers what its customers want with a great experience.

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Take a look at the store video at youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3mNWFE4HYk

Sources:

http://veja.abril.com.br/especiais/estilo_2005/p_014.html
http://www.gestaodoluxo.com.br/segmentacao/materia_23.htm
http://www.daslu.com.br/