Top designers could do more for online consumers

London - High-end designer brands could do “twice as much” when it comes to providing a luxury experience to customers who buy products online, according to new research from luxury retail marketing agency ContactLab, which analysed the online purchasing experience, from the moment of purchase to delivery, and every step in between for 29 leading luxury brands.

The ‘Online Purchase Experience Ranking’ reveals that brands are only utilising best practice during the consumer journey around 50 percent of the time, according to the 67 parameters identified by ContactLab to measure the service offered by luxury retailers, including the online ordering experience, delivery, packaging and returns.

The research looked at 29 recognisable global luxury brands, including four major e-tailers, and analysed their physical and digital customer experience touch points. For instance, digital touch points refer to the online process, such as choosing an item or checking out, while physical touch points refer to direct customer engagement with the product, such as at the time of delivery, or when an item is returned.

The findings revealed that the brands are reaching less than half of their maximum potential on both physical touch points (46 percent) and digital touch points (45 percent), which ContactLab warns could lead to luxury brands losing consumers who are not satisfied with the service.

ContactLab did highlight that Fendi and Cartier are “significantly leading” on physical customer engagement, delivering a luxury online experience similar to that consumers find in-store, while, Balenciaga is ranked first on Digital Customer Engagement, followed by Net-a-Porter, Zegna, and Saint Laurent.

Marco Pozzi, senior advisor for ContactLab, said: “Our analysis reveals that Fendi is leading the way in many respects, engineering a very distinctive web and e-commerce experience, which provides a luxury consumer journey from beginning to end.”

Designer brands could do “twice as much” to provide a luxury experience to online customers

It also revealed that e-tailers generally perform better than most mono-brands, in particular, Net-a-Porter and Mr Porter, which both score well on physical and digital touch points. The analysts also discovered that “powered-by Yoox” brands such as Zegna generally perform well on digital touch points, but trail behind on physical touch points.

Massimo Fubini, CEO of ContactLab, added: “There is definitely work to be done in the luxury sector if brands are going to increase online sales year-on-year. Consumers pay a lot of money for products from these luxury brands and they expect the whole experience to have that luxury feeling, from the moment they order the item to the moment it arrives at their door. Brands must go that bit further at every single stage of the consumer journey, but very few are fulfilling their full potential.

“Our research and subsequent analysis found that many brands are missing the little touches which make all the difference, such as covering the product in standard parcel paper rather than delivering it in a more luxurious manner. Some brands, such as Fendi, Cartier, Tod’s and Net-a-Porter do show best practice when it comes to packaging and focus on maintaining that feeling of luxury throughout the whole consumer journey.”

Fubini added: “The high-end fashion world has struggled, at times, to transfer the luxury experience of their bricks-and-mortar stores into their online offerings, but paying attention to the entire journey and offering added value at every step will allow these retailers to capitalise on the possibilities offered by the internet.”

Images: Fendi website and ContactLab Online Purchase Experience Ranking