Boucheron to Enter e-Commerce Marketplace

Boucheron, a subsidiary of Paris-based retailer PPR, planned on launching a website September 17, however as of press time the website remains static. The company reported the new e-commerce version of the boucheron.com had already been made available to select customers as early as September 13.

Boucheron CEO Jean-Christophe Bedos said in an interview with Le Figaro that it would only be a guess at the value of sales the website would generate in time, but that the website would be driving foot traffic to the stores. Boucheron will open new stores soon in Doha, Bahrain, Saint Petersburg, Macao, Shanghai, and Bordeaux.

"Selling on the Internet has remained a taboo for a number of players," the newspaper quoted Bedos saying. "This has frustrated our clients, who as well as being wealthy use the latest technologies on a daily basis."

The Boucheron website will handle purchases for up to $14,000, and then for purchases above that amount customers will be given a special telephone hotline to call.

During the first half of the year Boucheron sold one rose diamond ring at its Moscow retail store for $13 million.