William G. Koeberlé

Premium Beauty News - You have announced modernizing the selective distribution contract would be your priority throughout your mandate. What are your challenges?

William Koeberlé - The regulation came into force in 2012 for a period of ten years, which takes us to 2022. It may seem far ahead, but one has to start working on it now, because it is the one element that structures our whole business. To me, the main challenge is customer experience: the same quality criteria must be satisfied online and in-store. Customers have already changed a lot compared to the time when we were discussing the current regulation, and they will keep changing a lot.

The number of online buyers and customers that check websites before they buy in-store has significantly grown in five years. More than 70% of selective distribution customers use the Internet to get both information about products, prices and new launches, and advice, in particular via blogs. We have found that the more customers go online, the more they buy in-store and online. In addition, we have worked a lot with our suppliers to standardize product technical sheets, especially to homogenize the information available. The conditions are now in place for us to determine the type of customer experience needed in the digital world. How should products be presented online? How should the tips given on products be provided? If we do not work on this, the only variable will be the price, and we will destroy the dream created by our products.

Premium Beauty News - The current regulation requires for an online retailer to also have at least one physical store to be accredited. Do you think this requirement is threatened?

William Koeberlé - The question will inevitably be raised. To us, it is an important guarantee of service quality. Selective distribution provides products, but also advice, which means customers are listened to and can test products. But we have also found that customer behaviour changes very fast. Besides, the world of pure players is quite heterogeneous, and some of them are doing a good job. Our priority is to maintain the quality of customer experience, including on the web.

As an example, the “click&collect” solution can be a very rich experience, if particular attention is paid to individuals, and personalized tips offered, when they pick up their orders from the store, or, by contrast, very poor and anonymous, if they have to collect their purchases from a box at a station. Hence the importance to define the criteria that will guarantee the quality of the buying experience in any circumstances.

Premium Beauty News - You are saying the online customer experience is heterogeneous. But it seems selective distribution in Europe is very heterogeneous too!

William Koeberlé - The level of the services supplied is not even, but it is quickly getting more uniform. One has to be aware of the fact that traditions vary a lot depending on the country; sometimes the drugstore-perfume shop background is extremely far from the French standards from which the regulation was inspired. But everyone is catching up with France. Moreover, brands contribute to this levelling upwards. By opening subsidiaries in most of the European countries that used to be entrusted to agents, they were able to control their distribution channels more easily. And it also allowed for a certain convergence in terms of selling prices. These changes were all the more essential since our customers travel more and more.

Premium Beauty News - Your other main priority is training.

William Koeberlé - Here is another key element of customer experience. Again, the fact that customer behaviour changes a lot is a real challenge! What can we offer to customers that already deeply searched the web before they came to the store? How can behaviour and point-of-sale digitization be integrated? It is important to go back to a “training programme” strategy, and maybe draw inspiration from the excellent results of apprenticeship and systems where school courses are combined with work experience in countries like Austria or Switzerland.

Premium Beauty News - How do you think the market is going to evolve?

William Koeberlé - In 2014, the French market declined (according to NPD) by 0.6% in value, and 4.2% in volume. But it should always be reminded that these figures neither take into account online sales, nor those achieved by private labels – although they are the ones that have risen the most. As for online sales, they have increased from 2% in 2008 to 5 or 10% today, depending on the brands. So, the market is actually showing some resistance, and is tending to grow in value, while remaining rather stable in volume, despite the arrival of new entrants like Kiko or textile brands, and the competition of players such as Yves Rocher or L’Occitane.

Premium Beauty News - Don’t you think prices have increased a bit too much in selective perfumery?

William Koeberlé - The premium brands that have simultaneously increased their added value and prices are still growing in importance. They have managed to return to their DNAs, while reinventing their own codes and providing added value to their customers. Any rise must be justified by added value. However, the brands that were not able to do this, those that did not work or invest, but still increased their prices, are now bearing the brunt of the competition of private brands, whose offering has considerably widened, with very high quality ranges.