Customers expect the “luxury feeling”: The Online Purchase Experience Ranking

“The Online Purchase Experience Ranking” by Contactlab and Exane BNP Paribas analyses the online purchase experience in the luxury market in a first of its kind study, revealing that many high-end designer brands could do twice as much when it comes to providing a luxury experience to customers who buy products online. This could lead to luxury brands losing consumers who are not satisfied with the service, Contactlab warns.
Consumers pay a lot of money for products from these luxury brands and they expect the whole experience to have that luxury feeling, from the moment they order the item to the moment it arrives at their door. Brands must go that bit further at every single stage of the consumer journey, but very few are fulfilling their full potential.

Brands are only utilising best practices during the consumer journey around 50 per cent of the time. Analysts developed 67 parameters to measure the service offered by luxury retailers, analysing the complete purchase process – from the online ordering experience, to delivery, as well as packaging and returns.

The study demonstrated that many brands are missing the little touches which make all the difference, such as covering the product in standard parcel paper rather than delivering it in a more luxurious manner. Some brands, such as Fendi, Cartier, Tod’s and Net-a-Porter do show best practice when it comes to packaging and focus on maintaining that feeling of luxury throughout the whole consumer journey. The high-end fashion world has struggled, at times, to transfer the luxury experience of their bricks-and-mortar stores into their online offerings, but paying attention to the entire journey and offering added value at every step will allow these retailers to capitalise on the possibilities offered by the internet. (Find out more on Slideshare)

Contactlab’s expert analysts discovered that new Ecommerce entry Fendi, and Cartier, are significantly leading on Physical Customer Engagement, delivering a luxury online experience similar to that consumers find in-store. Meanwhile, Balenciaga is ranked first on Digital Customer Engagement, followed by Net-a-Porter, Zegna, and Saint Laurent. The study also revealed that e-tailers generally perform better than most mono-brands.

To sum up, companies need to focus on each step of the online purchasing process, maintaining best practice with digital direct marketing and engaging personally with individuals in a seamless manner. In this way the consumer feel engaged throughout the whole process, creating the feeling that they are receiving both a luxury product, and a high-class service.