Paying for purchases at Gucci in Bitcoin
Luxury house Gucci has announced that it will start accepting crypto payments in five of its US stores by the end of the month. Officials also said they plan to expand this option to 111 outlets in the near future.
According to Vogue Business, the affected Gucci stores will accept payments in 12 different cryptocurrencies – Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, Wrapped Bitcoin, Litecoin, Shiba Inu, Dogecoin, as well as five stablecoins backed by the US dollar.
The five pilot stores are located in New York, Miami, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Atlanta. Employees have completed training on Web3 and digital assets to prepare them for this launch. In these shops, customers wishing to pay for their purchases in crypto-currencies will receive a QR code allowing them to make the payment via their digital wallet .
Gucci's attraction to Web3
Gucci is not at its first attempt in the field of digital assets. In June 2021, her very first NFT consisting of a 4-minute video entitled Aria inspired by the ready-to-wear collection of the same name sold for $25,000 , at an auction organized by Christie's.
This year, the house has already launched two NFT collections: in February, the SUPERGUCCI collection with the SUPERPLASTIC toy brand, and Gucci Grail in March.
Finally, the brand has also made its mark in The Sandbox metaverse with its Gucci Vault virtual store, a digital copy of its Vault e-shop. It brings together a selection of vintage Gucci pieces brought together by its artistic director Alessandro Michele.
In March 2022, Gucci CEO Marco Bizzarri spoke about the brand's metaverse strategy, saying it was already "a very real place for them".
Luxury and cryptocurrencies
Gucci is far from the only luxury brand to launch into Web3. The LVMH group has posted numerous proposals in this area. Several of its brands have, for example, launched NFT collections – we can cite Louis Vuitton, Hennessy and Bulgari.
In addition, the Hublot brand recently released a watch that could only be purchased in Bitcoin. The Off-White label, which is also part of the LVMH group , has started accepting cryptocurrency payments in its stores in Paris, London and Milan.
Other watch manufacturers like Norgain and Franck Muller , other fashion brands like Phillip Plein, some car dealers like and even some luxury sports clubs (the Equinox group) are now ready to see their customers pay in cryptocurrencies .
Finally, the implementation of crypto payments in Gucci stores is further proof of the growing appeal of luxury brands for crypto-currencies and Web3 in general.