How Technology Can Help Create New Age Luxury Experience With changing times, consumers seek luxury at multi-touch points, from e-commerce channels, online to multi-brand stores
By Anil Lala
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Once upon a time the meaning of luxury was all around the aspiration value. However, with changing times, luxury is no longer product centric. The new age consumers don't just aspire to own the product but own the experience, the exclusivity and also the aura created around the product.
In terms of retail, the luxury segment in Asia has become competitive and with the wide consumer base to tap, each brand needs to create a personalized experience and also engage the audience. It's no longer appealing to all, but rather appeal to one seeking exclusivity. The brand communication focuses on creating an aura, a personality which shall bring an aspirational appeal and not just an emotional one.
The learning curve
Gone are the days, when consumers would seek luxury in-store only. The traditional marketing did focus on building the best experiences but only at in-store retail level. However with the changing times, consumers seek luxury at multi-touch points, which includes e-commerce channels, online or even multi-brand stores.
The way shoppers indulge with luxury brings importance to digital experiences that now undoubtedly play a crucial role. It's an exciting time for brands as the revolution in technology and automation is enabling the ability to purchase through multiple channels and gain an increased knowledge of customers. Today a purchase is more learned, tech driven from every aspect.
Technology has overall raised the bar for customer experiences, in luxury retail. Technology and luxury has become a disruptive combination in the industry.
The trends
Making a note of this shift, brands have timely incorporated tech trends in to their communication channels, matching the consumers at the same wavelength, and creating compelling digital experiences.
Some of the noteworthy trends that should be considered are using apps for customer engagement, which not only enables brands to have more personalized approach but also lets them measure the consumer engagement with the help of an analytics system; and bridging the gap and ensuring stronger visibility. Brands can get the maximum value, to be more interactive and alluring. The next trend is chatbots, which addresses the conversational marketing needs. The introduction of chatbots has allowed brands to begin engaging with consumers directly and proactively develop deeper relationships with their customers.
Shopping experience
Lastly, one of the most crucial aspects in retail luxury is to create a shopping experience like no other. It's not about just the ease of buying the goods, the key takeaway is the personality of the product. It's the luxurious experience that shall last forever.
To match the same experience, most luxury brands are trying to create the best-in-class ambience inside the store for every reason, be it shopper marketing, augmented reality, virtual reality, IOT trends or mobile apps. The end result is to leverage the meaning of technology into the marketing planning and programs, capturing consumer preferences and needs.
Luxury marketing has its own language. Technology opens up the door of the luxury brands to create these elements for their audiences in an omni-channel environment.
