{Member Insights} Leading the Way with a Digital Luxury Experience

The FACC-NY network is composed of a diverse mosaic of talented, experienced, and open-hearted professionals united by a desire to share their knowledge, nurture meaningful connections and succeed professionally. In this new Member Insights series, we invite a guest member to contribute timely and relevant tips for adapting your activities to overcome immediate challenges and plan for the long-term. 

Lauren Davitt is Vice President of PRS IN VIVO, a consultancy and research practice dedicated to helping brands elevate the luxury experience for their customers. They help clients influence behaviors and deliver on client happiness by leveraging expertise in Behavioral & Happiness Sciences, applied to innovation/packaging, omnichannel/digital, and retail experience.

In the past week, Salvatore Ferragamo launched an immersive online boutique, LVMH invited its Instagram followers to view historic exhibitions from home, and Watches & Wonders moved to showcase and allow the purchase of luxury watches online for the first time.

It’s clear: Luxury brands are embracing digital experiences more and more. Though not a trend caused by the novel coronavirus, the need to digitize has been accelerated as a result.

Recent studies by PRS IN VIVO show that nearly 80% of luxury shoppers globally have made some form of online purchase during lockdown. And they plan to keep shopping online, with 44% in North America and Europe and 58% in Asia planning to make more online purchases post lockdown compared to pre, driven by a hesitancy to return to stores and reduced global tourism.

This presents an opportunity – actually, a necessity – for Luxury brands to reinvent the luxury digital experience, not as a distinct channel but as a part of an integrated global omni experience.  Now is a time to continue to lead the way, harnessing their creativity and innovation which defines the same spirit of their fashion.

This is not without its challenges though. A luxury experience, no matter the channel it occurs, needs to go beyond simple satisfaction. It must deliver on client’s Happiness, delivering memorable moments that elevate the experience for greater loyalty. This requires maintaining a human factor, which is not often associated with digital.

With this in mind, consider the following:

Infusing human relationships into the digital experience will help brands stand apart.

Humans are social creatures, and brands able to build authentic relationships will be more likely to earn and retain customers.

When we recently asked luxury consumers about memorable brand communications, they often recalled if a sales associate had reached out to them via digital means - a personal contact being more powerful than a mass email, for instance.

Luxury aspirations are shifting towards more conscious consumption.  

While this trend did not start with the virus, it has accelerated. In fact, 73% of Luxury shoppers in North America and Europe said ‘How socially responsible the brand is’ will be more important to them following the crisis, along with brand’s commitment to employees, and product origins.

Quality, style, and other Luxury criteria still remain, but consumers will now be even more demanding of brands for a purpose-driven connection.

Excellence will still be a pre-requisite in execution.

Luxury customers will still demand a flawless and effortless experience. They are not quite so forgiving, even during a crisis – Recent, negative memories often centered around lack of communication on shipping delays or frustration with online returns.  

The ability to create a successful omni experience will rely on putting the human at the center. This requires a thorough understanding of customer mindsets, motivations, and unconscious behaviors to guide the conception and execution of the experience.

I welcome you to join us as we explore these themes and insights in more detail on May 19^th at 11 am.

You may register here, or reach out to Lauren.Davitt@prs-invivo.com for any questions.