Ministry of Hajj issued over 150,000 Nusuk cards for the Hajj of 2025    Saudi Arabia deports 12,866 illegal residents in a week    SFDA clears first 44-ton medical shipment for Hajj pilgrims    Over 13 million worshipers pray at Rawdah Sharif in a year    Pope Francis laid to rest at historic funeral in Rome    Massive explosion at Iran's Shahid Rajaee Port injures over 500 people    Russia claims full control of Kursk region after ousting Ukrainian forces    Former US congressman George Santos sentenced to over 7 years for fraud and identity theft    Saudi orchestra to perform at Sydney Opera House in May    Al Hilal thrash Gwangju to reach AFC Champions League Elite semi-finals    Nammos Amala Resort to open soon with Saudi-Greek designs    Saudi Arabia completes 674 Vision 2030 initiatives, achieves 93% of KPIs as ninth-year milestone marked    GACA chief chairs 16th meeting of the Steering Committee on aviation's strategy    Alkhorayef praises advancements in Al-Kharj food industries sector    Saudi Theater Commission launches its Work and Learn Project in UK    The season has begun — and one comment shook us all    Saudi Arabia open to expanded 64-team World Cup in 2034, says sports minister    Jennifer Lopez dazzles in Jeddah with a Formula 1 performance    Average life expectancy in Saudi Arabia rises to78.8 years    Famed Philippine film star Nora Aunor dies at 71    Pakistani star's Bollywood return excites fans and riles far right    Veteran Bollywood actor Manoj Kumar dies at 87    Bollywood actress vindicated over boyfriend's death after media hounding    Grand Mufti rules against posting prayers and preaching in mosques on social media    Exotic Taif Roses Simulation Performed at Taif Rose Festival    Asian shares mixed Tuesday    Weather Forecast for Tuesday    Saudi Tourism Authority Participates in Arabian Travel Market Exhibition in Dubai    Minister of Industry Announces 50 Investment Opportunities Worth over SAR 96 Billion in Machinery, Equipment Sector    HRH Crown Prince Offers Condolences to Crown Prince of Kuwait on Death of Sheikh Fawaz Salman Abdullah Al-Ali Al-Malek Al-Sabah    HRH Crown Prince Congratulates Santiago Peña on Winning Presidential Election in Paraguay    SDAIA Launches 1st Phase of 'Elevate Program' to Train 1,000 Women on Data, AI    41 Saudi Citizens and 171 Others from Brotherly and Friendly Countries Arrive in Saudi Arabia from Sudan    Saudi Arabia Hosts 1st Meeting of Arab Authorities Controlling Medicines    General Directorate of Narcotics Control Foils Attempt to Smuggle over 5 Million Amphetamine Pills    NAVI Javelins Crowned as Champions of Women's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) Competitions    Saudi Karate Team Wins Four Medals in World Youth League Championship    Third Edition of FIFA Forward Program Kicks off in Riyadh    Evacuated from Sudan, 187 Nationals from Several Countries Arrive in Jeddah    SPA Documents Thajjud Prayer at Prophet's Mosque in Madinah    SFDA Recommends to Test Blood Sugar at Home Two or Three Hours after Meals    SFDA Offers Various Recommendations for Safe Food Frying    SFDA Provides Five Tips for Using Home Blood Pressure Monitor    SFDA: Instant Soup Contains Large Amounts of Salt    Mawani: New shipping service to connect Jubail Commercial Port to 11 global ports    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Delivers Speech to Pilgrims, Citizens, Residents and Muslims around the World    Sheikh Al-Issa in Arafah's Sermon: Allaah Blessed You by Making It Easy for You to Carry out This Obligation. Thus, Ensure Following the Guidance of Your Prophet    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques addresses citizens and all Muslims on the occasion of the Holy month of Ramadan    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Most luxury shoppers want omnichannel experiences
Published in The Saudi Gazette on 02 - 01 - 2017

More than 85% of millennials and even 75% of baby boomers and older people who buy luxury brands are ready for so-called omnichannel interactions, ranging from e-commerce to social sharing to digital in-store experiences. And six out of ten luxury sales are now swayed by digital approaches such as researching online before purchasing offline.
Those are some of the findings presented in Digital or Die: The Choice for Luxury Brands, a new report published by The Boston Consulting Group (BCG), one of the world's leading management consulting firms. The publication, based on surveys of approximately 10,000 consumers in 10 countries and interviews with industry leaders, confirmed that digital technology is heavily influencing the luxury sector, whether brands are ready for it or not. The implication: there is more that brands must do to catch up with fast-changing consumer expectations.
"Digital is the new consumer reality. Digital tools, digital skills, and consumers' rising comfort level with digital are forcing brands to be far more customer-centered in everything they do," said co-author Olivier Abtan, a partner and managing director in BCG's Paris office the global leader of the firm's luxury, fashion, and beauty topic area. "But digital also opens up opportunities to create personalized offers and provide bespoke service to many more customers. Brands can reach consumers not reached before and engage online in markets where a brand has no physical stores. However, not all brands are there yet."
Diving deeper, the report notes that luxury shoppers' readiness for omnichannel interactions does not simply mean shopping online rather than in stores, even though e-commerce is indeed surging in most luxury sectors in many geographies. It means that shoppers want integrated delivery service (31% of those surveyed), the same promotions and rewards regardless of channel (24%), and a consistent brand image (22%), among other factors. The upshot: brands must get ready to "meet" their shoppers at many more touch points on the path to purchase and then strive to orchestrate the overall customer experience.
Looking more closely at the influence of digital methods, BCG found that fully 41% of luxury shoppers research products and services online and buy them offline, while 9% practice "showrooming"—that is, they check out products at a store and then buy online. E-commerce is gaining ground, too; it now makes up 7% of the global personal luxury market, and BCG projects that will rise to 12% by 2020.
Examining the demographics of luxury consumers, the BCG study found that millennials do not have a monopoly on all things digital. Certainly the web plays a large role in their shopping behavior: 60% rate products on the web, 60% upload content about products and services, 45% check prices via mobile (even while in the store), and 43% look for promotions online (likewise while in the store). Yet older generations are nowhere near as digitally backward as some might think. In some markets—notably Japan and Russia—it is older people who are the heaviest online shoppers for luxury goods and services.
The report also described big variations in the digital "maturity" of countries. Interestingly, the nations perhaps most closely associated with luxury fashion—Italy and France—are still very store centered; for instance, only 31% of the French luxury shoppers surveyed said they had researched their last product online and bought it in a store, compared with 47% who had done so in the US and Brazil and 46% in Japan.
"Luxury consumers expect brands to be digital and act digitally," said Christine Barton, a senior partner and managing director in BCG's Dallas office and a report co-author. "They see all kinds of innovative digital initiatives in the wider world of consumer goods and retail. Now luxury brands have to meet those expectations. Digital approaches can help them foster valuable interdependencies with their customers in order to shape and co-create the brand experience." — SG


Clic here to read the story from its source.