Retail and Consumer Confidence12:40
The pandemic forced luxury goods companies to use social media, video, and virtual showrooms to woo customers in Europe and keep them shopping at a time when tourists, especially from China, have been absent for more than a year. Analysts believe the government-imposed lockdowns have left wealthy Europeans with money to spend, and designer brands are keen to capture some of that cash.
Last month a Genoa-based jeweler - Gismondi 1754 - turned to WhatsApp to sell a 10-carat diamond ring to a Swiss client without showing the ring in person. “I was on the phone chatting with the lady who is buying it, and it came up that this was the dream of a lifetime for her,” Massimo Gismondi, chief executive of the jewelry group, said. Shops were closed due to a government-imposed lockdown in Italy.
Buying diamonds in lockdown? WhatsApp can be your best friend
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Buying Diamonds in Lockdown? Shoppers Turn To Whatsapp
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Buying diamonds in lockdown? WhatsApp can be your best friend Reuters 1 hour ago © Reuters/BENOIT TESSIER FILE PHOTO: Louis Vuitton Spring/Summer 2021 ready-to-wear collection in Paris
By Claudia Cristoferi and Silvia Aloisi
MILAN (Reuters) - As Italy entered a new coronavirus lockdown and shut shops in March, Genoa-based jeweller Gismondi 1754 turned to messaging service WhatsApp to sell a 300,000 euro diamond ring to a wealthy Swiss client. © Reuters/REMO CASILLI FILE PHOTO: Outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Rome
At the same time, sales assistants at luxury puffer jacket brand Moncler were arranging gourmet dinner deliveries to customers homes so they could dine in style while watching a video streaming of the brand s latest collection.