DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: Do you agree with LVMH’s position that stores are the future of retail and that digital commerce is only a complement to the physical experience? Do you see luxury retail, in particular, remaining more tied to physical stores than other retail verticals?
Interactive Edge’s CEO, Zel Bianco comments, featured on RetailWire’s Braintrust:
Physical stores are needed. Period! It makes sense to have a store where you can have the experience of looking at what you are buying, trying it on or seeing how it looks (or sounds if shopping at a consumer electronics store).
Warby Parker does a great job with their online approach, but it does not replace the experience of going into the store to try on as many pairs of glasses as you want. I just purchased two pairs of glasses and, guess what, they had to be adjusted three times. The experience was flawless at a physical store compared to how frustrating it would have been to deal with sending them back over and over.
My wife purchased Allbirds (sneakers) for me online and they don’t fit just right, so I will go to their store in SoHo and get ones that do. Brands that have both a digital and physical store presence will win the customer’s loyalty.
Read the entire article at Retail Wire:
Forget digital first. Stores first, digital second is the future of luxury.
