The Changing Luxury Buying Experience
It used to be that a luxury buying experience involved dressing up and going into a high-end boutique to consult with a salesperson on what to buy and enjoying a glass of champagne while it was being carefully wrapped up for you. You’d feel proud to exit the shop with your branded shopping bags and something about spending a lot of money on yourself or a loved one felt good – as though the treat was deserved.
That was then...
This is now...
Consumers Want Things More Than Service
To new luxury experience is in ownership. People want nice things more than they want nice service. The luxury industry was shocked when it learned that luxury consumers loved to show at Costco, a warehouse style store that is anything but fancy but also sells luxury vacations, furniture, high-end timepieces, and $100,000 pieces of jewelry. A feeling of disgust fell on the faces of luxury brand executives when they saw their goods sold via online auction side eBay or Amazon – arguably the world’s largest shopping mall. That however was in the beginning, and luxury brands are feeling friendlier to places like eBay and Amazon because sales numbers prove their fears to be without merit. The real fear however was that these mainstream shopping experiences would devalue their high-priced goods, because they were not being sold in a luxury environment. Nevertheless eBay and Amazon continues to sell high-value goods at large volumes. Gucci for example has made Amazon.com their official authorized online retailer.
Forming A New Relationship With Consumers
Why? Again, because people look to these services more and more to make purchases rather than purchase decisions. They are learning about products elsewhere such as via advertising, social media, and more traditional media. The comfort and sophistication of buying via the internet’s largest retailers is both trusted by and appealing to consumers. In the end consumers are looking for an easy way to get the things they want. The hassle of the traditional luxury buying experience is the industry’s biggest threat.
Reacties