Future of digital in omnichannel retailing

integrate their inventory management. After consumers have made a purchase, they need to have an excellent post-purchase experience. The service provided should be a reflection of the luxury brand prestige, they need to monitor what is being said about the brand online and respond to their comments, especially if negative. The focus here should be in using Twitter and Facebook as a feedback channel where they can communicate with the consumer. Meanwhile, they need to provide offline sales support, either through call centres or at the stores. Once the consumer enters a loyalty loop, luxury brands need to track these consumers to be able to reward them for their loyalty.

The service need to be personalised, such as providing a home page when visiting the website tailor-made to the specific customer. They also need to provide other ways in which consumers can express their loyalty, such as apps or by being included in their email lists for special updates. This means that they should be invited to special events, followed on social media to see if they are representing the brand correctly and making sure they get recognised for their relationship with the brand.

The key in adopting an omnichannel approach is that luxury brands need to be sure to adhere to the same standards both online and offline. More importantly, this means the level of service on both channels should reflect each other. A luxury brand has to adopt an omnichannel retail strategy to provide a “seamless” shopping experience, which leads to a higher customer satisfaction, ultimately resulting in higher brand equity.

communication originates from the brand automatically, rather than coming from the consumer. It works by sending the notifications to mobile and tablets, even if the device is locked the message will still appear. As for creating a complete customer service, I want to extend on what is already being done by these brands. Luxury brands already have their customer profiles, however digital innovation can have a significant impact on the profiles by making it easier to track and follow their shopping behaviour (both online and offline).

Finally, VR is considered due to the recent development in this simulation tool and its early adoption in luxury retail. While this technology is already available, many luxury brands have not realised its usefulness in creating a better shopping experience.

Many view the idea of location-based push notifications as a strategy for non-luxury brands, however it has the potential to offer a more personalised service. As we saw, personalisation is key in providing a luxury service online and in creating a seamless experience. These push notifications allow brands to be in a constant interaction with the consumers, therefore improving the CRM and brand loyalty. Sending personalised messages to consumers will reinforce the relationship; by reminding them the brand is thinking of them. There are very mixed views about receiving these notifications, with over two-thirds still thinking it is very annoying or does not respect privacy. However, many companies already use this location-based tool to inform consumers of current promotions when they are nearby, so why not use it for luxury brands. It can make shopping an easier task if consumers are sent notifications when they are near the store. The service should be adapted to fulfil luxury expectations, instead of promotion, focus more on offering new collection items the customer might like. Similarly, content should not be too “pushy”. They must personalize the notifications to the consumer preferences and when sending them it should be relevant, otherwise they will not pay attention. The frequency of these notifications should also be kept under control, too many notifications are likely to make shoppers annoyed and uninstall the service. For example, consumers should only be notified of items if the store nearby has it in their size otherwise it will not live up to a high quality service, only taking time from consumers lives without being able to offer them the product. Many respondents expressed a need to be able to decide when these notifications can be delivered. If consumers are given the illusion that they are in control of the situation, then luxury brands can use this to their advantage. By allowing consumers to

receive these notifications on “their terms” then they have the possibility of reaching the consumers on their mobiles.

Luxury brands already have customer profiles created to keep up with their preferences and shopping habits, to make the service more personal next time they come into the shop. This idea is a useful tool for CRM and improving the customer experience. The problem is that the service is not yet provided to the same extent online, while a consumer who comes into the shop will have their details saved when they shop online the system will not have their past purchases and details at hand. One of the reasons this is not always done is due to risk of information being hacked or misused; this issue mostly regards credit cards. With the technological advancement, luxury brands should invest in using a security system that will make such breaches impossible. Saving payment preferences can shorten the “clicks to buy”, which will have a positive effect on sales.

There is other information on customers that should be stored and available to consumers equally offline and online to make the experience seamless. The responses from the survey show a need for improvement in sizing guides online, a possibility would be for consumers to get measured at the store by the salesperson and for the measurements to be put into an online system so that when shopping online, the sizes will be automatically suggested. Creating a full profile of the consumer that can be accessed digitally and manually is important to make the consumer feel as if you know their behaviour and can predict it to ease the shopping experience. This profile will also help segment your consumers to be able to deliver a personalised message for marketing purposes (such as sending appropriate push notifications). If the consumer is using social networks then they can follow what they are saying online about the brand and make sure to respond in a timely manner, this social network activity should also be included in the profile. Digital tools facilitate a luxury brand’s ability to understand their individual customers needs and by creating a complete profile, they will be able to improve the relationship to retain the consumers’ loyalty.

The next big innovation available for luxury brands to improve the consumer experience is virtual reality or augmented reality. What is most interesting is that VR already adheres to the standards of a luxury image due to its rich visuals. Although VR is has gained initial

traction (such as Dior Eyes), there is still a need for luxury brands to develop its mainstream application.

Faithful to the superb quality craftsmanship for which its couture workshops are renowned, Dior conceived Dior Eyes, an ultra-immersive virtual reality headset packed with state-of-the-art technology. The headset is equipped with high-definition image resolution and integrated holophonic audio, creating a 3D immersion into the backstage world at a fashion show, including the sensation of 360° vision, letting visitors move about in the virtual universe (LVMH News, June 2015).

Virtual reality will allow for a significant improvement in the user experience especially online (mobile and website) to assist in consumer visualization. In fact, consumers are already expecting luxury brands to use this; one of the suggestions made is to provide a virtual image of them on the e-commerce to get a better idea of the fit of the clothes. If consumers were able to view the products in 3D and to play around with outfits and accessories to create complete looks, while being able to view it on a virtual model of themselves, it would imitate the feeling of an offline shopping experience. This feeling leads to a higher potential for sales, as consumers will be able to identify themselves wearing the clothes and make it more appealing. Once again, the overall improvement this can have on customer satisfaction will result in brand loyalty and increase the brand equity. VR also has the potential to be used in stores. For example, luxury brands can install a screen in the changing room where VR will allow consumers to choose different outfits and a call button to ask a sales person to bring in those clothes for them to try it on.

Therefore, luxury brands should invest in research to come up with useful application of VR in all channels.

The big challenge for luxury brands in the near future is a result of the speed at which digital innovations are taking place; that is being able to accept and embrace digital means to enhance the consumer experience. Luxury brands need to invest more time, talent and money in trying to create new applications of technology for two main purposes.

The first is to be able to fully integrate offline and online channels (in terms of design, distribution, sales and support) to create an omnichannel experience, and secondly to improve their CRM.