Today’s consumers are better informed about the brands they are interested in, more than ever before. And since most consumers are online and rely on the Internet more than ever before, it’s time that luxury brands make the jump into the online world along with their shoppers.
“More than 60% of luxury good sales are now digitally influenced.” -Boston Consulting Group
Meaning shoppers either researched online and bought at the store, shopped in the store but bought online, or purchased online outright.
Millennials have been most associated with this behavior, but that’s not the whole picture: Baby Boomers used an average 3.5 mobile devices compared with 4 for Millennials. According to McKinsey they also spend 16.4 hours a week on the internet, compared with 17.5 for Millennials.
Online is the next frontier for high-end brands. It’s where luxury brands can find a new path to growth and tap into a wealth of potential customers. Brands can reach vast audiences and spread brand awareness organically.
Luxury brands will lose share if they are not able to interact in the way the world is changing and the way customers want to interact with them.
Change doesn’t come naturally to this industry, but, in today’s changing market, that is exactly what some luxury brands have done. These brands have realized that, without the use of digital, they would be ignoring a huge opportunity.
GO WHERE THE SHOPPERS ARE
While many luxury brands have accepted that they must market online, they have been much slower to accept that they must sell there as well. But migrate sales online is what they must do to assure a prosperous future.
According to Bain & Co., luxury online sales are growing faster than the broader market for high-end goods
Bain & Company also recently reported that online luxury sales growth is phenomenal, increasing by 24% in 2017.
THE DIGITALLY INFLUENCED SHOPPING JOURNEY
Many brands have recognized the need to meet consumers where they are, online. Enhancing the digital experience also entails the realization that digital sits inside every department and enhancing the digital experience for customers drives both loyalty and revenue.
The brands that have made the move to a digital shopping experience have found opportunities to evolve, without departing from their brand’s core values. To survive and prosper, these luxury players have also enhanced the customer experience and transformed their businesses for the digital era.
They recognized that shoppers expect the same offline experience as online.
LUXURY BRANDS THAT ARE MEETING TODAYS’ BUYER’S EXPECTATIONS
We think these are a few examples of brands that best exemplify the future of luxury online and are digital leaders:
- Badgley Mischka – Thinking about new ways consumers can interact and engage with a luxury brand is what makes Badgley Mischka an important luxury brand for the future.
- Gucci – Gucci has done well understanding its changing customer voice. The modern consumer’s relationship with Gucci is holistic, which has resulted in huge returns from longtime customers and new converts alike.
- Nordstroms – Nordstrom has made it possible to buy items from Instagram and find items based on Pinterest favorites. The Nordstrom, culture has always been to think every customer is “family.” They have applied that mindset to new selling models that respond to what today’s customer wants and then they make investments to back up the strategy.
- Burberry – Since the launch of the new, digital Burberry, consumers have seen a huge turn around in the brand image. The brand has also continuously outperforming competitor brands, surpassed targets, are seeing year-on-year sales increases and the value of their products has grown almost unbelievably.
IT’S TIME TO MAKE THE JUMP INTO THE ONLINE WORLD ALONG WITH YOUR SHOPPERS
Digitalizing a business doesn’t happen overnight and isn’t simple. The bottom line – you can’t do this without a digital foundation.
If you are looking for help to reach the digital customer and create your digital foundation Showroom Software is here to help you take the jump so you don’t risk getting stuck on the sidelines. Just get in touch with us and we’ll start talking about how we can help you make the jump into the online world!