With 70% of its workforce working as sales advisors or in direct contact with customers, it is not unreasonable to consider luxury as a retail-first sector. However, those in these roles in stores or hotels, who are critical to the excellence of the customer experience, are also among the most difficult to recruit. In partnership with the Comité Colbert, the representative body for luxury goods in France, the consulting firm MAD has just unveiled the first HR study with figures on retail in the luxury sector. Luxus Plus was at the press conference.
We knew that retail or “front-line” jobs (i.e., those in direct contact with customers, such as in the hotel and restaurant industry) were particularly in demand. However, few figures were available on this subject until now, particularly in the luxury sector.
For a long time, the aura of the luxury group or brand was enough to convince new recruits to embrace fast-paced careers in boutiques and department stores. Covid and the tough economic and social climate have changed the game.
Between refusing shift work and prolonged standing, wanting to climb the ladder faster or even regularly upgrade their skills, younger generations, who are more disloyal and versatile than their elders, are forcing companies to turn the tables. They must therefore introduce new standards such as work-life balance, well-being at work, career paths, and teleworking, including in retail.
For fashion houses, three challenges stand out: attracting talent, of course, but also developing their skills and retaining them.
To conduct its survey, MAD used a questionnaire sent to companies registered with the Comité Colbert, which generated responses from 31 respondents (CEOs or HR directors). This quantitative data was supplemented by a qualitative component, with insights gathered from retail and regional managers and a dozen interviews with members of field teams.
Four major luxury sectors were examined: fashion and leather goods, watchmaking and jewelry, perfumes and beauty, and hospitality and gastronomy.
“This study addresses the concerns of all our luxury Houses and aims to understand all the issues surrounding the recruitment of this product- and experience-oriented workforce, as well as the challenges of retaining them,” said Bénédicte Epinay, Executive Director of the Comité Colbert. She added, “At the request of our Houses, a chapter on talent management using AI has been included.”
No more sales advisors
After revaluing their artisans and other skilled workers, the Houses have realized the need to value another equally important behind-the-scenes function: retail and, more broadly, the field. LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault, who regularly visits around 20 stores a week, has himself made the customer the key focus of his employee meetings for the past ten years. And the number one in luxury has likened sales advisors to customer experience talents. Outside the luxury sector, Canadian athleisure specialist Lululemon even calls them “educators” (due to their role in raising awareness of products and lifestyles).
Indeed, rather than the title of sales advisor, which is considered too reductive and above all “transactional,” brands prefer the term customer advisor in their job postings.
In France, in-store sales positions, like manual and craft jobs, have suffered from a negative connotation and public policy disparagement over the past 30 years. Other markets are severely affected for other reasons, particularly Southeast Asia and Singapore in particular. In addition to the fact that the status of salesperson remains very poorly perceived, turnover is high, driven by the desire for better salaries.
To address this shortage or difficulty in retaining talent, groups and companies have not hesitated to revamp the role of sales advisor or customer advisor by highlighting it on their career sites or creating specific career paths in partnership with leading universities.
Record turnover rates
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Read also > The Colbert Committee draws up a detailed map of craftsmanship and artistic trades in France
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