Can luxury go digitally native?

By Fuse Inventory   | 

A few months ago, we published a post on why we believe that digitally native brands can and will be successful. First, they are well positioned to completely own the customer experience. Second, it’s easier to find and target the brand’s ideal customer online. Finally, there are many storefronts (like Shopify and Big Commerce) to choose from that look great and don’t require a team of engineers.

How do consumers feel about luxury e-commerce?

But, can the same logic be applied to luxury items? According to Bain’s Spring 2016 Global Luxury outlook, growth of luxury goods has slowed to 1%. In the US, specifically, the luxury market is in decline due to limited domestic spending and no support from tourism. However, amidst this grim outlook, e-commerce is gaining ground on traditional channels and is expected to grow by 15% per year through 2020. 

We ran a survey to understand how consumers feel about purchasing luxury items online. An overwhelming majority (90%) of our respondents said that they would buy a luxury item online, which is great news for brands. But, many of them caveat that there are only certain kinds of luxury items that they feel comfortable purchasing. First, they prefer purchasing from brands they already know. Second, they prefer to have interacted with the brand first in store. Finally, if it’s an item with a very specific fit, they want to have tried it on in advance.

Customer experience is key to success in luxury

We asked two up and coming brands, Floravere and SENREVE, in two very different industries (wedding gowns and handbags, respectively) to share how they tackle these customer needs.

According to Emily Ambrose at Floravere, “There is nothing more luxurious than serving the customer on her terms.  We deliver wedding dresses directly to the customer, so she doesn't need to hunt down the one dress. Instead, she can try-on in the comfort of home with her loved ones and no pushy sales people. Going digitally native gives us the opportunity to offer unprecedented customer service in our space.” 

Julia Mehra at SENREVE shared a similar perspective: “Luxury purchasers are increasingly turning to online retailers to satisfy their wants and needs. Our SENREVE woman is very busy, so shopping online suits her lifestyle. We’re seeing shopping behavior on our site indicating that the online model fits well with the modern woman’s schedule. We serve these women by delivering a beautiful, timeless, elegant bag for the modern, successful, on-the-go woman.”

Interestingly, both brands defined luxury not simply based on the nature of the good, but also based on convenience of the experience. Recognizing that fit is important, Floravere creatively opted to ship samples in multiple sizes and supplements the experience with a personal stylist. 

And so is building your brand over time

We believe that digitally native brands can be successful in the luxury goods market, but to do so, they’ll need to recognize that the experience of luxury has changed. Retailers must deliver on a customized experience that sacrifices none of the quality and achieves all of the service. Like with anything that is new, it takes time. Time to change generations of retail experience. It takes good word of mouth. It takes a dedicated set of initial customers who are willing to try it out.  And, then, your brand, your product, your service has to speak for itself.

Whether you’re a luxury e-commerce brand or not, Fuse is here to help you focus on your business, not your inventory.

 

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