A footwear heritage
Founded in Marseille in 1973, Minelli connected French elegance with practical leather footwear and accessories. The study considered what this heritage meant to customers: fit, durability and recognisable style.
MINELLI / BRAND · RETAIL · SECOND LIFE
Minelli: restoring the value of French footwear and connecting stores with new demand
Brand, repeat-purchase and omnichannel research: 45 qualitative participants, audits of 35 boutiques and a survey of 2,400 women. France · 2025.
45qualitative participants
35boutiques in the field audit
2,400survey participants
3customer groups
01 / CONTEXT
Accessible chic within changing choices
A polarising offer
The supplied context places the mid-market between low-price alternatives and distinctive designer brands. The question was what made a new Minelli pair worth choosing.
Resale changes comparison
Vinted offered access to quality leather footwear below new-product prices. New collections competed with other brands and earlier Minelli products.
Retail and product economics
Lower traffic, rent pressure and production costs created a reason to reassess space and assortment. Research examined which store elements supported footwear value and which used resources without a comparable customer response.
Geography and year
The 2025 study focused on France, including Paris, Marseille, Lyon, Bordeaux and Lille. The case presents the research logic and developed roadmap.
02 / OBJECTIVES
Connect switching, assortment and store experience
Explain fewer repeat purchases
Explore women aged 35–55 who bought less often or switched. The supplied comparisons include Jonak, San Marina, Bobbies, Sézane and resale purchases.
Find relevance for younger customers
Understand French-style perceptions among women aged 22–34 and identify heritage elements that could remain appealing without losing recognition among regular customers.
Assess the boutique
Examine atmosphere, displays, fitting and staff expertise, including Click & Collect and returning online orders in store.
Explore second-life services
Assess interest in exchanging older Minelli shoes for benefits, leather restoration and longer product life as possible reasons to revisit a boutique.
Inform repositioning
Connect audience findings with capsules, floor allocation, services and communications, making value understandable in an actual purchase situation.
03 / METHODS
Customer choice and retail observation
45 / qualitative stream
The source combines interviews and focus groups into a qualitative stream of 45 participants in Paris and other regions. It covers long-standing loyalists, switchers and younger shoppers. Separate interview and group counts are not disclosed.
35 boutiques / mystery shopping and ethnography
Fieldwork assessed atmosphere, staff expertise in leather care, fitting conditions and collection displays, connecting brand impressions with physical details.
2,400 participants / CAWI
A France-wide survey of women explored awareness, NPS, online purchase willingness and price sensitivity. Detailed sampling and weighting parameters are not provided; its size is separate from the qualitative stream.
Conjoint / leather ankle-boot choice
Five factors were considered together: design, leather authenticity, production country, price and environmental certification. Conjoint participant count and numerical utility estimates are not supplied.
E-commerce and CRM
The framework includes digital and transaction analysis to contextualise repeat choice and omnichannel journeys. Data periods, transaction counts and a separate LTV estimate are not disclosed.
Connecting the sources
Qualitative work explained choice, audits examined stores, the survey broadened the audience view and conjoint explored product trade-offs. Together they connected positioning with fitting and ownership experience.
04 / THREE GROUPS
Different relationships with one heritage
Historical loyalists
Customers buying for more than ten years knew the brand through fit, durability and elegance. Research explored what they recognised in new collections and what made choosing again difficult.
Switchers
Women moving to Vinted, Sézane or other options provided an external comparison, revealing which price, style, comfort or shopping needs were better addressed elsewhere.
Young innovators
Gen Z and young millennials did not share the same long relationship. The question was what evidence of relevance, quality and value would make the brand part of their own wardrobe.
The shared question
The groups connected audience renewal with retaining the core. These are research roles, not published customer-base proportions or assumptions about all women of a given age.
05 / CUSTOMER JOURNEY
From finding a pair to its second life
01 / Need and inspiration
Work, everyday wear and occasions create different needs. Customers compare appearance, comfort and budget across new products and alternative channels.
02 / Price and provenance
Materials, production and design need to become understandable value. An important moment is comparing a new pair with a similar resale listing.
03 / Boutique and fitting
Fit, space and advice turn a quality promise into direct experience. Display density and waiting conditions influence the ability to focus on choice.
04 / Online and store
Click & Collect and online-order returns connect channels. The customer perspective considers the full process rather than a website or checkout alone.
05 / Care and the next choice
Durability, care and the future of the pair matter after purchase. Repair and trade-in were considered possible new touchpoints. This journey expands the supplied CJM objectives.
06 / INSIGHTS
Four gaps between heritage and new demand
01 / Heritage and micro-trends diverged
The source describes regulars valuing durability and fit while struggling to recognise familiar elegance in short-term trend responses. Younger shoppers could still associate the brand with an older generation. The challenge was to make heritage relevant through product and experience.
02 / Vinted entered the beginning of choice
More than 42% of the younger women in the studied Minelli-searching group checked basic models on Vinted first. The source describes vintage and lightly used pairs at 2.5–3 times lower prices. The exact percentage base is not disclosed and is not assumed to be all 2,400 participants or all French shoppers.
03 / Accessory space and sales contribution differed
The source reports bags and accessories occupying up to 30% of boutique floor space but generating 12% of revenue. Customers primarily saw a footwear expert. This raised assortment and space questions; the calculation period and store set are not supplied.
04 / Stores needed an experience update
Dense displays, limited open space and waiting areas made a premium impression harder to create. The research connected store renewal with calmer fitting and informed advice.
07 / ROADMAP
Four directions for restoring value
Assortment / Les Iconiques Minelli
The proposal emphasised loafers, derbies, ankle boots and classic pumps, reviewed an expanded bag offer and developed recognisable capsules. Fit and a consistent style sit at the centre of the concept.
Circularity / Second Life and Trade-In
The direction proposed taking older Minelli shoes in exchange for new-collection vouchers, followed by assessment, restoration and resale. It is a proposed service model; actual participating stores, pairs and voucher volumes are not provided.
Boutiques / the Marseille atelier
Recommendations combined reviewing unprofitable space with updating key stores using restrained design, light leather, wood and comfortable fitting. Shoe Care Bars and individual fit assistance were included in the concept. Specific closures or refurbishment programmes are not listed.
Communications / craft and generations
European production, durability and care would be explained through products and craft. Mother-to-daughter narratives were considered a way to connect recognition with a new personal choice in a contemporary wardrobe.
08 / CHANGE PRINCIPLES
Align product, space and relationships
A clear footwear core
Iconic categories can anchor assortment and communication. Consistency helps customers understand which needs and styles a brand addresses particularly well.
Floor space as experience
Allocation influences shoe visibility, fitting and the role of accessories. Space decisions therefore belong with category, service and store-perception questions.
Services after purchase
Care, restoration and possible trade-in can create return occasions by supporting the actual life of a product after its first sale.
One omnichannel relationship
Online, boutiques and circular services can contribute to one customer story. This supports a discussion of repeat value and LTV without inventing a numerical uplift.
09 / PROJECT VALUE
A basis for repositioning and retail decisions
Connect audience and assortment
Research related heritage in fit and durability to younger customer expectations. Developed directions connected product renewal with existing strengths.
Recognise cross-channel competition
Resale was part of the search journey, not simply a separate market. This supported considering care and second life within the audience-relationship strategy.
Develop a connected roadmap
Capsules, circular services, boutiques and communications formed one plan. Its output is decision directions and customer reasoning; measured post-implementation sales, margin and LTV increases are not supplied.
The practical outcome
The case connects brand perception, fitting, floor allocation and channel choice, creating a basis for retail development and customer-relationship decisions.
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