Luxury Digital Experience – Top Ways to Elevate Your Brand

The digital market is evolving quickly. Millennials are taking over the market and new marketing tactics are afoot. Many luxury brands have had to work from a new playbook in the past few years.

Curating a luxury digital experience is providing your customers with amazing customer service with quality products and services. The brand experience is what makes brands attain a luxurious feel. Many brands have mastered this at physical stores, but not as much online. This article will help you perfect your digital strategy to produce a luxury experience for all your customers.  

Here’s how to keep your brand on top and ensure your customers receive the best luxury digital experience.

What is a Luxury Customer Experience?

People are drawn to luxury brands by two things: exclusivity and quality.

Luxury brands and services are highly sought after primarily because they create a sense of exclusivity. These brands excel in creating a memorable customer experience that leaves them feeling special by going above and beyond to provide a five-star customer experience.

Having stellar customer service is the first and arguably the most important step in providing a luxury digital experience. However, the customer service standards set in physical stores are challenging to replicate with augmented reality.

We’ll be taking a closer look at how you can provide the same outstanding customer service on digital marketplaces.

The Luxury Market is Going Digital

Many customers have turned to the convenience of online shopping. The ability to shop at any retailer at any time has become a privilege many of us love.

For luxury retailers not only is their focus on excelling at customer service, but they also must provide items that are of exceptional quality.

Although luxury brands are known to provide an unforgettable and attentive in-store experience, the online luxury market has practically doubled in sales. With growth rates of over 27% per year, there are no signs of this trend slowing down.

4 Ways to Take Your Luxury Digital Experience to the Next Level

Although some customers still prefer an in-person shopping experience, there are certain conveniences of online shopping. There are ways to achieve the experience that is expected of luxury brands, even without the help of a storefront.

First, let’s look at the strengths of online shopping over brick-and-mortar locations.

Online shopping is all about convenience. People love that shopping at any time, having more product choices, and having a search feature is all now possible.

Being able to emphasize these strengths can help take your digital storefront to the next level in understanding and satisfying customer expectations.

Offering a digital luxury experience that provides consumers with these conveniences will make the user much more likely to be returning customers. In the following sections, we’ll dive into more detail on these methods and how to execute them successfully.

1. Know your target audience

Ultimately, there a three audience groups luxury brands will benefit from targeting. These audiences are Generation Z (16-22 years old), Millennials (25-34 years old), and Older Millennials (35-44 years old).

Although these age groups are likely younger than expected, millennials are the driving force of the digital market. Data from Statista indicates that millennials make most digital purchases.

If you want to read more about what drives the Millennial and Generation Z market to indulge in luxury goods, read our free eBook. Our guide will provide you with valuable information about your audience and strategies that work.

To learn more about identifying and catering to your target audience, we recommend reading our post about the target audience for luxury brands.

2. Provide a personalized experience for each customer

Although eCommerce doesn’t have the option of having a sales associate physically present to assist your customer, there is the advantage of data! The data websites gather through cookies makes it almost as if your website is reading their mind while browsing.

For example, when browsing online retailers, you’ll likely see a “you may also like” section. Cookies are to thank for these personalized picks!

Cookies can help track the user’s interests and habits, and history. This data collection results in highly relevant suggestions for items they have looked at before and may like.

Utilizing cookies to personalize experiences is a key strategy to improve shopping experiences on almost every eCommerce website.

Another way to do this is to prompt your users to make an account with you. Most brands will offer a discount just for signing up.

User accounts are also another tool for you to use to help customize their user experience. They are a great way for customers to manage their orders, view history, and earn points!

3. Implementing customization options to create a memorable experience

Engravings are a versatile option that can make the item and experience extremely personable to someone. Engraving is an extremely popular service amongst luxury brands. Getting jewelry, a purse, or even phone accessories engraved will make that item feel like it was made just for them.

4. Offering online exclusives

Another way to offer users more options is to offer online exclusives. This method is a win-win for both the business and the consumer.

Sometimes, a select few people are looking for a particular style or color in an item. Offering the specific product online by order will save businesses money by producing these items on demand.

Additionally, some brands will even do exclusive online drops. This is when a brand sells a limited amount of items for a certain amount of customers who manage to grab them first.

Exclusive drops are an excellent way to create exclusivity in a brand. Another bonus is that it also prompts people to be more aware of what your brand is doing online.

Use These 2 Digital Techniques to Your Advantage

Who says that people who opt to shop online don’t get the benefit of a sales associate assisting them? Many eCommerce websites offer live chats with sales associates to ensure the client still gets to have that catered to attention.

Your brand can follow what Nordstrom does by providing in-store videos of their stylists describing the item you are considering. Not only does the stylist give a detailed description of the item, but they also mention several different ways to style it!

Expert opinions tend to reassure customers about what they’re buying without seeing it themselves. This is a great way to provide the buyer with an expert opinion and comfort in knowing they’re making a great choice.

Making every step of the transaction smooth

Luxury brands are known for making sure the client feels catered to from the moment they walk in to even beyond walking out. So naturally, they expect to receive a luxury digital experience too.

Providing a seamless checkout is just another part of the luxury digital experience. Ensuring the customer has a smooth checkout can be the final deciding factor on whether or not the customer completes the purchase.

Converting customers into advocates

The buyer’s journey doesn’t end at the time of purchase. Retention and advocacy are the final two stages of the customer journey. Keeping clients engaged and updated with your brand is a great way to encourage return purchases.

Providing quality customer service at every buyer stage is essential.

For example, let’s say you’re interested in a service and browsing through reviews. There are likely a few reviews that slam the brand for being neglectful after the purchase.

On the other hand, you may have also noticed a lousy review salvaged by the brand providing excellent customer service. This is yet another point where customer service shines through and shows what people can expect from your brand.

By practicing excellent retention practices, you can avoid the customer experience turning sour and instead turn them into advocates.

Another critical component in the retention stage is keeping your customers in the loop. Having customer emails is valuable because you can send them newsletters.

Newsletters serve many purposes but particularly excel in informing customers of new items, restocks, and flash sales.

3 Ways to Innovate Your User’s Digital Experience

1. Content marketing is your friend

Reaching users through content is how many brands market and communicate with their audience. We’re now In a time where users care more about brand identity than ever before. Content is a great way to show you share the same values with your consumers.

Producing content is an organic way to showcase new, hot items in an article that also can provide value to the reader.

Another way to serve your audience with content writing is to target keywords for queries your audience is to likely have.

For example, let’s say your brand sells athletic shoes. It would make sense to target queries that relate to shoes, such as “What are the best running shoes?”. Using content to answer a question is an effective way to get your brand out there.

When utilized properly, content marketing can be one of the sharpest tools in your arsenal.

2. Sending users personalized recommendations and offers

Rounding back to the power of newsletters, some brands even send curated picks once a week to their subscribers. Not only does this personalize the experience for each user, but it’s also a great way to get more eyeballs on relevant products.

Another method is to send flash sales and gift set offers. These are effective options because it’s highly likely they’ve already purchased something from your brand and plan to again! So why not remind them of a bonus they can get if they shop soon? This approach is particularly popular around the holidays.

A bonus tip is to incorporate taglines on emails that emphasize “Special Offer FOR YOU”. Many brands will send these exclusive promotion emails to their members to grab their attention for this insider exclusive.

3. Make all user reviews visible

Receiving more direct feedback on products is one of the many things that have happened due to eCommerce. Unlike before, customers can now see hundreds of reviews for a product before they purchase it.

Some websites even include video-formatted reviews on their website. Users find these extremely useful when making a decision on products. This can be especially impactful for brands that sell clothing and accessories.

Overall, allowing uncensored reviews to be shown on the page helps show brand transparency. Additionally, another bonus for brands publicizing their reviews it that it builds brand trust with consumers.

Final Words

Even with these pointers, creating a luxury digital experience that resonates with customers as much as in-person experiences can take time and effort.

That’s why we specialize in digital marketing for premium brands and are here to help! Feel free to reach out to get in touch with an expert for a consultation with Mediaboom.