STORES Magazine - March 2009 - (Page 25)

urley finds it interesting that “a number of studies have been done asking people about their best luxury experiences, and the answers are not necessarily some of the names that would come to mind as luxury stores.” Apple, for example, “gets incredibly high marks for providing a luxury experience. What they’re doing Fun and funky is something different, a different kind of pert Rue La La, the feel is trendy, fun sonalized service. They’ve really tried to exand slightly funky. The site’s accent amine where the pain points are in shopping, color is hot pink, and a recent day’s and to make those things easier. Things like “boutiques” included Isabella Fiore, Judith having people come to you to check your Ripka, stila and Pink Tartan, as well as a At Rue La La every brand things out, so you don’t have to stand in line, benefit sale featuring Life is good. that has conducted a bouor having remote units for handling credit “Our goal is not just luxury, but both pretique has come back and cards that will then e-mail you your receipt. mium and luxury brands,” Rue La La’s Fiswanted to do more “These days,” he says, “to presume that luxchman says. “We believe the consumer ury means having someone standing in front shops that way — just like she walks the mall, and may visit of you and helping you is not sufficient. Having the wrong perboth a high-end European retailer and a traditional American son standing in front of you, as we all know, can be a negative store.” thing. So what we try to do is to think not just about the shopA typical customer, he says, “is the woman who might have ping experience. It’s also about how we can teach you about the a J.Crew bathing suit but also a Chanel jacket. What we make brand, to help you form opinions before we have an event.” sure of is that all of the brands we work with work well togethThe appeal of true luxury has survived “world wars, famine er. And maybe the most important statistic to date is that every and nuclear explosions,” Pedraza says, “and people who brand that has conducted a boutique with us has come back achieve the best — especially in this meritorious society — will and wanted to do more.” always want the best.” Brands especially like the targeted customer base that comes Sites like Gilt, ideeli and Rue La La extend access to “the through referrals and invitations. “From the beginning, we’ve best” to new customers, including those who wouldn’t othertried to make sure it was a protected community for these wise have access to physical sample sales. In addition, they brands,” Fischman says. “Most sites work on optimization, offer more opportunities for regular luxury purchases than wanting to be crawled by search engines. But we make sure our ever before. sites aren’t crawled. We are more about search-engine prevenWell-heeled shopper Gray has a separate e-mail account set tion than enhancement.” up just for notices from her favorite sites, and she checks it Gilt, ideeli and Rue La La appear to have reached consumer daily. “It’s a little treat to go there every day, kind of like havconsciousness at just the right time. Industry observers say the ing a chocolate bar — or two,” she says. “Let’s just say that, sites couldn’t have flown just a handful of years ago, when afwhen the book ‘Confessions of a Shopaholic’ came out, it fluent customers had yet to place full confidence in the Intermade me a little nervous. I could definitely relate.” StORES net’s ability to offer a personalized, trustworthy and luxurious shopping experience. Fiona Soltes, who splits her time between “retail therapy” “The advent of the Internet and the fact that wealthy conand freelance writing, lives near Nashville, Tenn. “In this economy, three things matter: value, fun and a pleasant shopping experience, where you’re not sort of elbow-toelbow in a store going through piles of stuff,” Hurley says. “Instead, this is beautifully presented, it’s convenient and it’s discrete, too.” This contrasts with Gilt.com, which drips with drama. A black backdrop with gold accents features shadowboxes of items by the likes of Vera Wang, M Missoni and Gordon Rush. There’s also a calendar of upcoming sales and a “quick style picks” area. “I know of one doctor who won’t take appointments between 11:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. so he can shop” the site, Graber says. “You don’t want to feel like you’ve missed out, or come back at 5 p.m. to see that one of your favorite brands was there. You want to be a part of it; you want to be on it.” Items can move quickly during Gilt’s 36hour sales, Graber says: “Sometimes we’ll go four or five hours before things sell out, sometimes it’s 45 minutes.” sumers are so time-starved has made them incredibly desirous of a luxury channel that is convenient,” says Milton Pedraza, founder and CEO of the Luxury Institute, a Manhattan-based research and ratings organization. “A lot of wealthy consumers, already used to buying things on Amazon, are now asking, ‘Why do I need to go to the store? If I know the product, and it’s easy to find, and it’s easy to make the transaction, then I want it now. Ship it.’” As e-commerce has evolved, Pedraza says, the need for the in-store customer experience has declined, “and in that sense, I think luxury is a little behind other retailers of the world.” High marks for Apple H A WWW.STORES.ORG STORES / MARCH 2009 25 http://www.Gilt.com http://WWW.STORES.ORG

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of STORES Magazine - March 2009

STORES Magazine - March 2009 Contents Executive Editor's Page President's Page Movers and Spenders What Shoppers Think Take Your Laundry Online 10 Things You May Have Missed Numbers Worth Counting Full Price/Markdown Retail People Luxury for Less Q & A CONCEPT2WATCH Checkout Management Online Entrepreneurs Sustainability POS Online Strategy Online Scheduling SaaS Online Marketing Merchandise Security PCI Compliance LPinformation Supplier Directory Exception Reporting Industry Perspective Theft Research LOEB Retail Letter ARTS Update Point of View NRF News Retail Crossword Retail Industry Calendar End Cap

STORES Magazine - March 2009

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