Top designer brands could do twice as much for online customers, according to research

Many high-end designer brands could do twice as much when it comes to providing a luxury experience to customers who buy products online, according to new research from fashion and luxury brands expert ContactLab. This could lead to luxury brands losing consumers who are not satisfied with the service, ContactLab warns.

Designer fashion showcased at London Fashion Weekend.

“The Online Purchase Experience Ranking” study , which was produced in conjunction with Exane BNP Paribas, revealed that brands are only utilising best practice 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.

“There is definitely work to be done in the luxury sector if brands are going to increase online sales year-on-year," Massimo Fubini, CEO of ContactLab.

The research and subsequent analysis is a world first in examining online purchasing experiences and the consumer journey in the luxury retail sector. It looked at 29 recognisable global luxury brands, including 4 major e-tailers, analysing physical and digital customer experience touch points.  Digital touch points refer to the online process, such as choosing an item or checking out, whereas physical touch points refer to direct customer engagement with the product, such as at the time of delivery, or when an item is returned.

ContactLab then mapped their findings onto an “Online Purchasing Experience Ranking,” which measures the physical touch points on one axis and the digital touch points on the other.

Massimo Fubini, CEO of ContactLab, comments: “There is definitely work to be done in the luxury sector if brands are going to increase online sales year-on-year.  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.

“Our research and subsequent analysis found 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.”