Luxury retailers turning to mobile sales

The online and offline shopping worlds are converging, and thanks to a handful of digital solutions, luxury retailers are using them to enhance offline shopping experiences more than ever in our rapidly changing consumer landscape.

Gucci unveiled a “Mobile Point of Sale” program this week that will launch later this year at select boutiques in the U.S., Europe and Asia to better the retail experience for consumers — and it’s also the company’s first step toward eliminating cash register transactions. So now sales associates will operate from Apple iPhones to process mobile sales and wirelessly e-mail receipts to customers, which in addition to building a relationship between associate and customer, expedites sales.

The company’s initiative involves a wider adoption and further development of this solution — hoping in the near future to replace regular cash registers with mobile sales entirely. Consumers will also see the rise of integrated in-store displays to obtain augmented product information, as well as the introduction of enhanced online customer profiles to help sales associates better serve shoppers. If retailers know how consumers are shopping online — from their favourite brands to recently purchased items — they become better equipped to help them in-store.

Another leading luxury brand, Donna Karan, became one of the first luxury brands to incorporate QR codes at the retail level last month. At the brand’s freestanding stores, the QR codes have been implemented into displays at flagship locations, allowing shoppers to further engage with the brand by learning more about a particular item, learn about the designer’s inspiration for the season or even why the item is a “must have.”

QR codes enable us to make the transition between digital and brick and mortar seamless,” said Patti Cohen, executive vice president, global marketing and communication at Donna Karan International, adding that the brand’s QR codes dovetail with the retailers’ own digital programs.

Tory Burch also launched a pilot in-store mobile strategy in a few of its flagship locations last fall, and chief marketing officer Miki Berardelli told WWD in January that the brand is working on a full store rollout now by the end of 2012.

“We see mobile as the true bridge between online and offline. Our customer carries her device with her at all times and enters our stores more informed than ever,” Berardelli said.