One of the biggest challenges for the luxury goods sales channel is managing the experience in a fully digital environment. In this article I’ll explain ways to overcome this barrier, with 2 practical fashion retail examples: one Spanish, Ekseption, and one international, Net a Porter.
Online fashion is one of the best-selling sectors, and one of its main sales channels is multi-brand retailers.
Multi-brand luxury fashion stores
Multi-brand stores are those whose catalog includes items and products from several brands. In most multi-brand online stores, it’s very important to optimize the brands that drive visits to the store.
In Spain, the multi-brand online store market has grown steadily across all sectors, and it’s one of the most common business formats in physical retail. However, competition among multi-brand stores online is much fiercer, since you need to consider:
- Whether you have a larger or smaller range of items or products than the competition. The bigger the catalog, the more sales opportunities.
- A larger or smaller price margin depending on costs and agreements with brands. The better the deal, the better the terms you can offer customers.
Until recently, it was believed that if you offered the same as another store and cut your price to compete, you’d increase sales. That premise has now been called into question, as eCommerce shoppers are increasingly demanding about service quality and customer care.
Luxury online: customer care is key
Multi-brand luxury fashion stores are precisely one of the sectors that base their sales strategy on attentive, carefully tailored customer service. Translating that personal touch to a screen was (and still is) one of the reasons for reluctance to move online.
But Google.es rankings include several multi-brand luxury stores that have managed to rank well and stay in business despite not being able to serve you by appointment and face to face.
How do you put exclusivity and customer care above all else?
Luxury fashion stores apply several formulas:
- Fashion lovers follow the trends and forecasts of their favorite designers on social media and fashion blogs. That’s why luxury fashion stores should reflect this interest by creating designer alerts: when new items arrive, customers receive a newsletter about the designer’s new collections or news.
- The store should be a go-to destination for fashion. By creating unique content through blogs, online publications or apps, it should keep users informed of new arrivals while building anticipation for what’s about to arrive or is already trending. They’re not just online stores: they’re experts in, and showcases for, a lifestyle in which the items on offer are part of that style.
- Visible chat, phone and email support and, most importantly, very short response times. Effective communication with customers must be priority number one.
- Product images in the highest resolution.
- And of course, a free shipping and returns policy.
Success story: Net-a-Porter.com
Net-a-porter.com > Founded in London 15 years ago, Net A Porter has built its entire sales strategy around the online channel. This pioneering luxury fashion site offers styles and designs from international runways, such as exclusive pieces by Roberto Cavalli, Alexander McQueen, Tom Ford, Stella McCartney and more than 300 renowned designers.
Net-a-Porter stands out for the option to receive personalized alerts about new arrivals from each designer when new items are available. But among its customer engagement initiatives, its own magazine stands out, where readers can follow what’s coming to the store, and which is also a trend-setting publication. Launched in early 2014, the magazine has an app and a digital version, while the print edition is distributed in more than 60 countries.
Ekseption: Spain’s multi-brand luxury fashion store
Ekseption, the luxury fashion store developed by Trilogi, is another success story in online luxury fashion in Spain.
At Ekseption you can buy renowned brands with every convenience:
- No need to wait longer for a haute couture item. At Ekseption, orders arrive within 2 business days at most, with no delays just because it’s luxury fashion from international runways.
- Shipping and returns to Spain, Portugal and Europe Zone I are free, making it easy to buy and return items.
- To create the lifestyle the sector demands, it features a Trends section, where items are grouped according to the season’s fashion standards.
These two stores are a prime example of how luxury can find its place in eCommerce, as shop-in-shops that care about their audience and its buying decisions. This means saying goodbye to reservations and waiting lists (sometimes months long). As in physical luxury stores, crowds don’t get through the door, and in most cases you have to book well in advance to shop. With this online sales channel, haute couture lovers can have what they want when they want it.
Farfetch lands in Spain
Farfetch, a luxury fashion retailer, features more than 300 independent boutiques, from emerging designers to established brands. Just a few weeks ago, this British platform launched in Spain to boost the luxury fashion sector nationwide.
What do you think is the best customer service channel a fashion store can offer you?
