I wake up at 8.30. I watch the news on my laptop sipping my cup of coffee. I get ready. I put on my Air Max and I'm on my way to the Supreme Store (20 Rue Barbette, Paris).
It's a sunny day and I'm enjoying the 10 minutes walk towards the shop.
The first in-store drop for the Season 2018 has been already made one week ago. It was impossible to access the Store unless you previously registered through a link given at the entrance one week before the drop, so two weeks ago. If you weren't aware of this mechanism you could just go on Sunday and queue for hours.
After having been rejected from the shop last week, I signed up to the website they gave at the entrance, at least to be sure to have the possibility to get in the next Thursday.
Saying that I go in the morning. It's about 10 and nothing, no one asks for any kind of registration or confirmation email. They just give a ticket and say "See you at 2".
What I would like to find out is how a marketing strategy of this kind has been able to build an empire such as Supreme's and what the results may be in a long term.
Supreme has created its own Niche. It cannot be considered the same restrict audience of Luxury Brands like Gucci or Balenciaga, which discriminate on a price basis.
James Jebbia, the founder of Supreme, has built a massive power through a limited supply of products.
So, what make hundreds of people queuing for hours just to buy a shirt or a hat?
Uniqueness?
The brand's strategy is founded on selling out of products. There's no restock. It is this fact that drives demand to be much higher than supply. Knowing the "Limited-edition" aspect of Supreme, fashion victims and fashion lovers drive demand higher and higher every time there is a merchandise drop, building more and more power for a brand which was almost unknown until a few years ago.
Supreme would be able to increase supply, but it just decides not to do it.
This decision has powered up two other market's participants. Fans and buyers themselves who see Supreme as a way of speculation through the re-selling of the products at a much higher price. Moreover, James Jebbia has created a source or revenues for software developers and hackers who have started to create bots for the Online Store which facilitate the purchase of articles which are demanded by thousands of people at the same time.
What we are sure about is that this Strategy is something new and it has revealed to be really efficient in a short-term perspective. What we need to evaluate is what customers' reaction will be in a long-term when the excitement for Supreme may have vanished a little.
Stay tuned for further analysis…