Adapting the omnichannel trend to the unique essence of the luxury world: a comparative perspective

Abstract

In the last decade big changes are taking places in the distribution system because of the continuous spread of innovations. The online and mobile channels, together with social media, have lead, in a previous moment, to the creation of multichannel strategies, intended to offer products and services across different channels (Rosengren et al., 2018). However, what is happening nowadays is a shift from multichannel to omnichannel. Increasing emphasis is placed on the interplay between different channels and on offering customers a seamless experience, independently of the channel they are using. The present work, after an analysis of the literature, intends to discover how luxury brands are adapting to the omnichannel trend. As a matter of fact, for many years, players in the luxury market have avoided to go online because they thought that the unique essence of luxury products could not have been replicated through the website, and they strongly wanted customers to visit the boutique. However, luxury customer is changing, and with people becoming more and more used to digitalization in the consumer goods market, expectations have been raised also for luxury (BCG, 2019). Consequently, luxury brands need to adapt, taking actions to satisfy customers expectations, and shifting their mindset to see digital as an opportunity and not as a threat (BCG, 2016). For the purpose of my thesis, in order to assess how the luxury market is dealing with the integration of different channels, I have proceeded with an analysis of the e-service dimensions (Jung-Hwan K., et al., 2018) of some luxury brands websites. Burberry, Hermès, Chanel and Louis Vuitton websites present diverse levels of development but, overall, with the only exception of Chanel, it emerged that luxury brands are definitely moving towards omnichannel. Good product presentations, useful in the pre-purchase phase, possibility to buy online and pick-up in-store, easy return policies and dedicated service for online clients are becoming the new normal also for luxury. Finally, to go deeper with my analysis and to understand the right path towards omnichannel, I made an online survey to investigate customers’ opinion in this sense. From the survey it emerged that 92% of them value it extremely important to find detailed information and product descriptions online, while 83% consider it important to have a well-developed website and to live a customized experience in-store. The survey, together with the interviews to some experts in the sector, highlighted the fact that, even though the experience in-store will continue to play a fundamental role for luxury brands, they still need to adapt and to improve their service in an omnichannel perspective. For example, by adopting a unique database for online and offline customers, in order to give customers the right advices online and offline, based on their previous purchases. Also the offline luxury shops will evolve, becoming more and more points of touch rather than points of sales, with the purpose to offer customers unforgettable experiences and to create an emotional connection with the brand, that needs to be conveyed also online.