09 Feb What Luxury Shoppers Actually Want from Digital
To understand what luxury shoppers actually want from Digital, let’s take a step back to know who luxury shoppers are and what are their online habits.
Luxury shoppers are people who have high disposable income and are pressed for time. They relate with brands that resemble their lifestyle and they ideally like to take fewer steps before they have decided to buy.
3 out of 4 luxury shoppers equip themselves with digital devices helping them to decide on what to buy, where and how much to pay. Luxury shoppers tend to use laptops or computers while at work to surf online. While outside work they mostly use their smartphones to surf online. While surfing on laptops or computers the shoppers mostly restrict themselves to educate on various products, price, etc. and to zero in what they want to buy, how they want to buy and from whom they want to buy.
Luxury shoppers tend to buy goods both from luxury brand websites and non-luxury brand websites. They also rely on search engines to help them make purchasing decisions.
Here are some of the most common features shoppers expect from a website that sells luxury goods:
1. Appropriate search engine presence for relevant keywords that they’re looking for.
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2. Responsive website so that it is accessible across various devices.
3. Faster loading time i.e. less than 3 seconds loading time. According to a research, over 3 seconds loading time could lead to site abandonment by at least 57% of the users.
4. Visually attractive images so as to relate with their lifestyle and to re-emphasize value of luxury goods over non-luxury goods.
5. Displaying product ranges and proper price listings on the landing page. Helps them in engaging with the website faster over other options.
6. Customer reviews and recommendations to instill trust in their purchasing decision.
7. Fast checkout process.
8. Details on in-store or home delivery along with other details such as estimated delivery time, return policy, cancellation charges, etc.
A luxury shoppers expectations from an online shopping platform like a website may vary from country to country. The above listed features of an ideal website does hold good across countries.
According to Mckinsey Consumer Survey carried out in June, 2014, some of the top reasons for luxury shoppers to shop online include:
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1. Shopping convenience
2. Price comparison
3. No sales pressure from salespeople
4. Easier accessibility to various goods
5. Save time
6. Availability to choose from a broader range of products
7. Access to reviews and recommendations
8. Better deals than in-store offers, etc.
Over time luxury shoppers have also shifted their buying preference from buying on brand owned websites to independent websites. One of the prominent websites which has gained a wider following across countries is Net-A-Porter. In US, websites like Nordstrom.com, Neimanmarcus.com and Bloomingdales.com are popular. In Germany, websites like KaDeWe.de, Mytheresa.com, etc. are popular.
As listed above luxury shoppers are actively looking up for luxury goods on search engines. Though over 50% of the traffic in the US makes up for direct visitors there is a small percentage of shoppers who scout for deals and brands online. The numbers for shoppers searching on search engines significantly increases for countries like UK and Germany according to Mckinsey. What this means to the brand representatives is that the shopper traffic can be diverted to right landing pages considering investments made on Search Engine Optimization and Search Engine Advertising.
One of the emerging trends in luxury shopping is the usage of mobile application. Very few brands have invested in a mobile application. If used the right way to target luxury shoppers, frequent usage by shoppers could lead to establishing brand loyalty. Currently the shoppers who are active on mobile and desktop are yet to fully embrace mobile applications to stay engaged with their favorite luxury brands.
Back in 2014, digital influenced about 20% of luxury sales. These numbers are set to increase over time as smart phone and internet accessibility increases in developing countries. If the claims prove to be true, luxury brand owners needs to take notice and take right steps else face competition from other brands and other independent players.