{{Olivier COSTIL}}
_ Turnover from Internet selling sites has multiplied this year. This mostly concerns the fashion sector.



{{Olivier LE FLOCH}}
_ The low prices explain the enthusiasm for Internet buying. However, we try not to go below 50 % of the conventional market price, so as not to harm this sector too much. All VIP.com sales are validated by the brands, which is not the case of all Internet sales. For the last six months we have been selling preview items at market price. Internet enables us to reach more customers and a more widespread geographical area than the conventional private shop. Lingerie, ready-to-wear clothing, household accessories and equipment are the most popular products on our site. Brand-awareness plays an important role. So we want to attract as many known brands as possible to our site.
_ The main competitor to VIP.com (14 million € sales) is « ventesprivées.com » (250 million € sales), but our company is profitable. In order to distinguish ourselves from our competitors, we have created topic-based journals. We have also provided broad-band to 49 % of our customers. This brings us new customers, as if they do not have broad band, it is not possible for internauts to buy on the Internet.
_ The Internet is a complement to factory outlets and traditional shops which publicise brand names. We work on impulse purchasing by sending emails every two days to people who have signed up. Many people buy things that they never use, but they think they are getting a bargain.



{{Olivier COSTIL}}
_ Do your customers consider these emails to be an intrusion into their private life?



{{Olivier LE FLOCH}}
_ No, there are very few unsubscriptions. We respect the wishes of those who do not want to receive emails.



{{Olivier COSTIL}}
_ Is not the development of sites on Internet a risk for your activity?



{{Olivier LE FLOCH}}
_ No, because poor quality sites and those which do not respect the brand image are not likely to endure. We have contracts with the brands. In this way they control, free of charge, animations, prices and the product description. Moreover, in France there is room for three players such as ventesprivées.com, because the brands are producing more and more.



{{Olivier COSTIL}}
_ How is your remuneration calculated?



{{Olivier LE FLOCH}}
_ If a product is sold on the traditional market for 100 euros, we sell it on our site for 50 euros. Which means we have bought it from the brand at between 20 and 25 euros.



{{Olivier COSTIL}}
_ This morning, a manufacturer said that private sales were less profitable than running a factory outlet.



{{Olivier COSTIL}}
_ That depends on the supplier.







{{Discussions with the floor}}



{{Vincent LEPERCQ}} (Journal du textile)
_ Why do the companies that run factory outlets not have an Internet sales site?



{{Olivier LE FLOCH}}
_ Some mark-down sites do not respect the brands. Physical mark-down outlets and web professionals are two separate areas of activity.



{{Franck LARZILLIERE}} (Seb)
_ What is your customers’ profile? Has it changed? Is you customer base different from your competitors’?



{{Olivier LE FLOCH}}
_ Our customer base comes from the whole of France, whereas the ventesprivées.com customers are located essentially in the Paris area. Our customers are between 27 and 37 years of age and 37% of them come from mid-range socio-professional categories.



{{Jean PAPILLON}} (President of the French Shoe Confederation)
_ What is the percentage of goods returned? Do you not have competition from the factory outlets which work along the same principle as you, that is to say, discount selling? Is not systematic discounting detrimental to the brands?



{{Olivier LE FLOCH}}
_ We have 1% returns. We are a complement to factory outlets if the brands are only present on a few Internet sites on certain days. In the United States, factory outlets co-exist with the websites.



{{Shirley BANDEL}} (former Levi Strauss employee)
_ Levi Strauss has never worked with websites, as it targets 1 600 000 consumers at the same time. This mass market strategy does not correspond to the brand strategy, where it is preferable to sell excess goods in factory outlets or else destroy the products. Levi Strauss does not sell to these mark-down sellers because of the harm they have done to the brand. Levi Strauss only sells on-line end-of-season firsts (undamaged goods) at discounts of 20 to 30%. This company is seeking to extend its sales network to factory outlets as they are very profitable for the brand.



{{From the floor}}
_ Although the patent policy of the brands is to get rid of their excess stock or previous season’s collections, the volumes are limited and do no harm to the normal distribution channels.



{{Vanessa ZOUZOWSKY}} (ING REIM)
_ How do you manage your volumes?



{{Olivier LE FLOCH}}
_ We never buy less than fifty-off of a product, because it is not profitable to buy less than this amount. So we never advertise an item that will be immediately sold out. We are controlled every two months on this point. We speak of a « good sale » when between 15 000 and 20 000 items are sold. A small sale of no more than 1000 items would cause us to lose money. I don’t know why on the ventesprivées.com site, at 09.03 an item is not available, when the sale started at 09.00!



{{Jérôme MARIE}} (Ville de Troyes)
_ How do you manage unsold stock?



{{Olivier LE FLOCH}}
_ Certain firm purchases may generate unsold stock. Flash sales are organised on the basis of conditional quantities.



{{Frédéric WILLEMS}} (Legal representative of the National Clothing Federation)
_ What does the Fraud Office recommend in terms of price labelling?



{{Olivier LE FLOCH}}
_ Although we do not display a discounted price, we nevertheless are entitled to display the recommended consumer price, crossed out and in parallel our own price.



{{From the floor}}
_ Why are your sales always organised at the same time?



{{Olivier LE FLOCH}}
_ It’s a choice. We also want to set up a VIP club for customers who have bought several products from us, so that they would be able to buy before other people.



{{Vincent LEPERCQ}}
_ What does not sell on Internet?



{{Olivier LE FLOCH}}
_ Seasonality is a major factor. Sometimes, the brand presented is not yet well known enough. In addition, our customers do not buy very specialised brands.



{{From the floor}}
_ Why do some brands stop selling their items on certain sites?



{{Olivier LE FLOCH}}
_ Certain brands have been disappointed by ventesprivées.com which is so well-known that it is no longer represents a private sale.



{{From the floor}}
_ What is the future – up to five years time- of on-line selling?



{{Olivier LE FLOCH}}
_ We intend to develop our export sales.