Offerings to customers that don’t live near, or frequent large retail cities.

That's a good idea. Sometimes you just need a $2,500 handbag for a fund-raiser and it's not worth the trip from Omaha to Dallas. Using the brand owner's website to display selective product could be a plus. It ups sales and margins and is aimed at current loyalty customers. WOK. Noteworthy, some upscale brands, once they know you or you have been a customer in a store, will allow you to order via the Internet.

How urgent is this problem?

If the designer is in severe financial straits and drastic financial or managerial changes loom, as has happened to several fashion houses recently, the temporary opening of a website might be a good idea. This has the same effect as a pop-up store on the high end. When the crisis is over, the site's productivity and effect on the retail channel can be evaluated and closed or re-merchandised if necessary.

As sales increase at the web, what is the effect on exclusivity?

Does the opening of the site permanently affect the value of the brand? This is a serious question as the forces in play are those who argue for short-term gains for all the usual reasons vs. those who which to maintain long-term distinctiveness. The circumstances of each company will determine the weighting, but this decision is much more important than it may seem at the time and requires careful consideration.

How should prices be set on the web?

Traditionally, web prices are lower than retail price as the customer perceives savings, which they expect to be passed along.  This is particularly true when the products are commodities.  
 
If you are going to buy a Nikon camera, for example, once you have identified several reputable web merchants, the only thing that matters is price. The item is now a commodity. In the high-end exclusive categories we are discussing, there are no alternative stores carrying the goods so the only competition is the merchant's channels themselves. This argues for maintaining store pricing and using the web for customer convenience. Sales of these high-end products usually require assistance by store staff who are better able to trade up, add on and offer special assistances such as tailoring which are absent from the web. That being said, in this environment, the designer should make the web support the store operation though identical pricing.

Accessibility and exposure cannot be as well controlled on the web as they can be through retail stores. One possibility is to create a special website with a password unlock which can only be gotten by contact with a retail store or through a headquarters customer service agent.

Whichever choice the high-ender makes will depend on how the company sees itself and how it wants its customers to view it. Is the brand’s plan short-term or long-term? Are its owners, investors or shareholders comfortable with lower, slower growth? Is manufacturing capability available if sales rise 25%? Will store sales be cannibalized? Will the fashion leaders migrate to more exclusive brands and turn the retail arm into common dress shops? How long should a change be tested, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera?

All problems have solutions. The decision to open a site is much more difficult at the high end then it is for Target. What is needed in this rarefied stratum is a careful examination of the alternatives and their unintended consequences.

Debate, decide, act and correct.