Luxury brands miss out on online sales opportunity

Luxury brands are missing out on the chance to develop substantial e-commerce businesses, concludes a new report from Forrester Research. Only one-third of the luxury sector sells online, says the report, but eight out of ten global affluent and high-net-worth consumers use the internet daily and they also actively research and buy luxury goods and services online on a regular basis.

The main reason seems to be that executives working for luxury brands feel that online retailing does not fit with the buying behaviour of their customers. In preparing this report, the company surveyed 178 premium and luxury brand and retail executives in Europe, Asia, and the US about their e-business and interactive marketing strategies.

• One-third responded that their customers use their website for research but buy through other channels.
• One quarter believed their customers would not buy their products or services online, particularly in the fashion and property sectors.
• Others felt e-commerce just doesn't fit in with either their distribution strategy or their brand and sales strategy.

"In our interviews, many luxury executives said that e-commerce meant selling like Amazon.com, and they felt this was inappropriate for them," reports the authors. "Executives in the luxury sector need to stop trying to duplicate the in-store experience online with poorly functional albeit glitzy sites; they should instead look for opportunities to help customers save time, research and order goods and services, and get assistance online and across multiple channels."