Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
with standard emails containing irrelevant information every two days will
serve a brand little purpose, even if the brand has 10 million email addresses
in their database.
Step nine: modeling the e-retail
The choice of a model for e-retail is crucial for sales optimization and brand
positioning. The ideal e-retail model for a luxury brand is apparently the inte-
gration of an e-boutique that features the appropriate product range to meet the
objectives of the e-retail. But several questions need to be answered before an
e-retail model may be defined: Should the brand display the entire collection
in the e-store or only selected products? What criteria should be used in the
selection? Should the brand display the prices of all products or not? Should the
prices only be discovered at the end of the product discovery journey just before
check out? Should the e-store be closed and made available to only a select
few by invitation? Should the website be accessed only by logging in with a
password? Should the e-store only act as a shopping window without enabling
instant shopping but making this available only through contacting the brand by
email? Should the products be shipped worldwide or to specific countries?
Several parties have challenged the sale of luxury products online and con-
tend that if a luxury brand is to retail online, the e-store should be closed to
the public and made available only to a selected VIP clientele to access by
special login and password. Others have claimed that the most suitable model
for luxury e-retail is to display the products and their prices to tantalize the
public but make purchasing them possible only through the phone or by email.
My viewpoint is that these models are not applicable in the current luxury mar-
ketplace. There is no strategic reason and justification as to why a luxury brand's
e-store or entire website should be closed to the public and made available to
only a “happy few”. Does the brand ever close its store to the public in the
real world? Also, why should a luxury brand restrict shoppers who wish to
buy online by not giving them the option of clicking and purchasing? By now,
I suppose you'll agree that these viewpoints represent conversations held ten
years ago when luxury e-retail was still in the experimental phase. Today, cli-
ents have moved on and so should luxury brands.
Step ten: channel integration
The backbone of the luxury business is retail, irrespective of the channel in
which it is conducted. Today, the Internet provides an additional complementary
and cost-effective means of selling luxury products. This has made it possible
to reach a wider market and to increase sales revenues. It has also brought with
it several challenges and an increasing phenomenon which luxury brands have
to deal with. The key challenge is linked to the integration of every aspect of
the two main retail channels (offline and online) across product selections and
