Insight: Shoppers are captivated by luxury brands, but let down by the digital experience – Attraqt

A new independent study of 3,000 UK, France and United Arab Emirates (UAE) luxury and lifestyle retail shoppers, commissioned by global ecommerce search, merchandising and personalisation provider, Attraqt (LON:ATQT), has launched today.

Carried out by market research provider Savanta on behalf of Attraqt, the research takes a closer look at luxury lifestyle brand’s shopper behaviour, expectations, frustrations and key purchasing influences and lifts the curtain on the growing role of digital channels in the luxury consumer’s buying journey.

It reveals that for luxury shoppers, stores still play an important role – with 40 percent starting their shopper journey there, however 39 percent are now using mobiles and 29 percent are using a retailers or brands app (29 percent). A reflection of how times are changing, the research also found that looking at celebrity trends (21 percent) and Instagram (17 percent) weren’t too far behind.

“The luxury shopper journey is rapidly evolving,” said Jon Stephens, Director of Customer Experience at Attraqt.“By 2025 marketpredictionsare that Millennials and Generation Z will account for a huge 45 percent of the global personal luxury goods sector.With that in mind, plus a fragmented market, disjointed customer journeys and diminished loyalty, it’s clear from our research that luxury brands need to think of digital channels as more than just a source of brand inspiration.  The idea that the luxury retailer should recognise their regular customers and understand what they like or want, hasn’t gone. Brand loyalty today shouldn’t therefore just be what a shopper feels about the brand, but also how the brand treats them at every moment. Luxury brands must act now to ensure that they evolve product inspiration and discovery into something a bit less stuffy, and much more immersive, personal and frictionless across all channels.

The importance of orchestrating a luxury shopping journey fit for the digital era – connecting the customer with relevant products and creating a series of ‘wow’ experiences to nurture a customer to a sale – has never been more important. In the luxury market this means removing the data silos in their organisation to ensure they influence every touchpoint – from the curated editorial content to the search and navigation process right through to the packaging of the delivery and re-engagement.”

Key research findings include (for all three markets)

What do luxury shoppers regard as essentialfrom their shopping experience?
Being able to easily find new products was cited as the most important factor (25 percent) of shoppers. Discovering new style trends, having the ability to virtually ‘try on’ new style trends and receiving expert product and trend advice exceeding what is available on the website, all secured 15 percent – tying for second place. Detailed knowledge of their previous shopping habits came in third place – with 14 percent. Advice from a stylist or personal shopper was essential to eight percent of those questioned.

What are the biggest influencerson making a purchase of a luxury item?
Online reviews topped the list with 29 percent of the vote. Celebrity trends came in second place with 28 percent. A brands own content online and visual merchandising in a store both secured 26 percent apiece – tying for third place. Instagram narrowly missed out on being in the top three influencers – with 24 percent.
Other big influencers cited included online magazines (19 percent), Fashion Week and print magazines such as Vogue (both scoring 18 percent).
Just 10 percent of respondents listed bloggers as their biggest influencer.

In instances where luxury shoppers don’t know what they want to purchase, which features most help to narrow down your choicesto inspire discovery and guide your purchase?
In first place are social media feeds viewed directly on the brand website e.g. Instagram – with 35 percent.
Trending product recommendations came in second place with 34 percent and quick and direct access to favourite product categories on a home page came in third place with 32 percent.
Just over a quarter (26 percent) found editorial / feature stories based on collections or trends on the brands website helpful.
Recommended content from a brand ambassadors scored 24 percent and image-led recommendations e.g. Shop the Look, appealed to 23 percent.

When online browsing for luxury goods, what are the biggest frustrationsfor these shoppers?
Nearly a quarter (23 percent) of shoppers say websites and apps force them to search through too many menus and tabs.
Morethan a fifth of luxury shoppers said that they can’t access the intricate product detail and imagery they need to convert to a sale (video and still images – 22 percent and text – 21 percent).
The next biggest frustration was irrelevant search results in the onsite search bar (16 percent) followed by impersonal or irrelevant recommendations (13 percent).

A closer look at the GenZ/Millennialluxury shopper:
65 percent of these shoppers are more likely to start their buying journey online – 10 percent more than the general population (65 percent versus 55 percent of general population).
Social media plays an important role in attracting this age group to start their shopping journey – 17 percent more likely than the general population (53 percent versus 36 percent of general population).48 percent would also like a social media feed embedded on a brand’s website.
47 percent of this age group switch between on and offline during their buying journey (versus 45 percent of the general population).
91 percent of this group are willing to shop around before hitting the buy button meaning that achieving brand loyalty is increasingly difficult amongst these shoppers.
Social validation is significantly important to these shoppers – 50 percent of GenZ cited Instagram as the single biggest influence on their luxury purchases.

Stephen concludes: “It’s critical that high end retailersforge an emotional and personal connection with luxury shoppers based on values, trust and inspiration, but on its own this won’t make them distinctive or competitive. Emotional connections with a brand need to be complemented by a series of logical and seamless discovery to purchase micro-experiences. Failure to understand unique shopper preferences and behaviours at each of these moments leads to lost sales opportunities, something that will only get worse as the younger buying segment grows.