May 27, 2013 Luxury online: a subtle balance between aesthetics, innovation and practicality Branding Share this post: The web is wonderful if you are happy to be transparent, collaborative, everywhere, fast, free and fluid. Moreover, it’s better to have low resolution videos and images for faster load times. Taken individually and, worse, as a group, these are not the most likely qualifications for a luxury brand. And hence, the challenge of creating a luxury online strategy. Yet, digital is everywhere, unavoidable and, better still, a vehicle of innovation. If only 8% of fashion retailing is done online, the opportunities for luxury are there for the taking. Challenges of luxury online The challenges for luxury brands going online are multiple: Where a luxurious look & feel might involve beautiful images and videos, the challenge is to make the web (or mobile) interface load up seamlessly and quickly. Finding the right digital luxurious touch…. When the screen is small, the challenge for online luxury is to find ways to allow for space and silence. {click to tweet} When luxury brands prefer to control the whole experience, how to enable discovery and enhance the consumer journey (without creating dead-ends and frustratingly uninteractive pages)? Where luxury brands need to establish premium value, how to maintain exclusivity and a proprietary space? When innovation is as much in the message (“story”) as in the product itself, the challenge is to stay ahead where barriers to entry on the internet are very hard to construct. And the challenge in eCommerce continues when a luxurious surfing experience needs to be matched by extreme practicality when it comes to the check-out process. {click to tweet} The balancing act Such are some of the challenges that luxury brands face in dealing with the inevitable digital transformation. I see three distinct criteria that luxury brands need to blend together to have an effective extension of their brand in the digital space: the online luxury brand needs to express itself via an exquisite aesthetic design that caters to the codes of luxury, such as beauty, refinement, space and speed… {click to tweet} the digital space is a fantastic avenue to demonstrate innovation by revolutionizing navigation, introducing new functionalities… where a luxury brand may wish that the customer experience on the web and mobile may incite exploration, delight and astonishment, the trick is making sure that the mundane matters — notably the check out in eCommerce — are treated with extreme pragmatism and practicality. The competitive set The issue for many (if not most) luxury brands is that third party upscale retailers such as Netaporter and Gilt are doing a better job in terms of practical matters: product images, search effectiveness, easy navigation, seamless check-out, a friendly mobile experience. Even some lower end brands are providing better customer service and a better online and mobile experience than their luxurious counterparts. When looking specifically at the mobile (as opposed to the tablet) experience, the constraint of the small screen and slower bandwidth make the challenges even more important for luxury brands. I’d be glad to hear of your opinion about which luxury brands you believe are making the digital grade! NEWSletter Subscribe to Minter’s Bi-Weekly NEWSletter and receive a free copy of the exclusive and updated 8 Golden Rules of an eReputation Your Gift For Signing Up 8 Golden Rules of an eReputation SUBSCRIBE! You have Successfully Subscribed! aesthetics, branding, check out, design, esthetics, functionality, GIlt, innovation, luxury, luxury brands, luxury online, netaporter, online luxury, practicality Minter Dial Minter Dial is an international professional speaker, author & consultant on Leadership, Branding and Digital Strategy. After a successful international career at L’Oréal, Minter Dial returned to his entrepreneurial roots and has spent the last ten years helping senior management teams and Boards to adapt to the new exigencies of the digitally enhanced marketplace. He has worked with world-class organisations to help activate their brand strategies, and figure out how best to integrate new technologies, digital tools, devices and platforms. Above all, Minter works to catalyse a change in mindset and dial up transformation. Minter received his BA in Trilingual Literature from Yale University (1987) and gained his MBA at INSEAD, Fontainebleau (1993). His newest book Heartificial Empathy, Putting Heart into Business and Artificial Intelligence, bowed in December 2018 and won the Book Excellence Award 2019 as well as being shortlisted for the Business Book Awards 2019. It's available in Audiobook, Kindle and Paperback. He is also co-author of Futureproof (Pearson, Sep 2017) and sole author of The Last Ring Home (Myndset Press, Nov 2016), a book and documentary film, both of which have won awards and critical acclaim. Minter has a new book on leadership, You Lead, How being yourself makes you a better leader, published by Kogan Page, that released January 2021. It's easy to inquire about booking Minter Dial here. View all posts by Minter Dial Previous post Next post
Luxury online: balance between aesthetics, inno... May 27, 2013 at 11:08 am […] The web is about transparent, free, collaborative, everywhere, fast and fluid — hence the challenge of creating a luxury online strategy. […]
Luxury online: balance between aesthetics, inno... May 27, 2013 at 11:08 am […] The web is about transparent, free, collaborative, everywhere, fast and fluid — hence the challenge of creating a luxury online strategy. […]
Luxury brands and luxury digital marketing - Where are the golden opportunities? July 22, 2013 at 4:33 pm […] of course, for each of these questions will vary for each brand. I have written this piece about the challenge for luxury brands online. Depending on their specific situation, brands must systematically relate their digital marketing […]
Luxury brands and luxury digital marketing - Where are the golden opportunities? July 22, 2013 at 4:33 pm […] of course, for each of these questions will vary for each brand. I have written this piece about the challenge for luxury brands online. Depending on their specific situation, brands must systematically relate their digital marketing […]
Luxury window shopping at Van Cleef & Arpels November 4, 2014 at 12:42 pm […] other elements that need to be considered in making luxury window shopping a full […]
Luxury window shopping at Van Cleef & Arpels November 4, 2014 at 12:42 pm […] other elements that need to be considered in making luxury window shopping a full […]
SmartWatch – Fad, Fashion or Forever? Watching the Digital Transformation of the Watch Industry | | Minter Dial April 27, 2020 at 7:15 pm […] I have written before, the challenge for luxury brands in executing digital marketing and setting up eCommerce is almost antithetical to the initial […]