Elizabeth Schofield of Fashion’s Collective explains why revenue analysis and technology review should not be the first steps in launching e-commerce online
Critical Considerations for Luxury Brands Launching eCommerce
Over the last decade, collaborations between luxury brands and contemporary artists have gone beyond mere artistic partnerships towards a new kind of luxury branding.
PARIS – Art and fashion have always developed side by side, for fashion, like art, often gives visual expression to the cultural zeitgeist. During the 1920s, Salvador Dalí created dresses for Coco Chanel and Elsa Schiapparelli. In the 1930s, Ferragamo’s shoes commissioned designs for advertisements from Futurist painter Lucio Venna, while Gianni Versace commissioned works from artists such as Alighiero Boetti and Roy Lichtenstein for the launch of his collections. Yves Saint Laurent’s vast art collection, recently auctioned at Christie’s in Paris, testified to his great love of art and revealed the influence of a variety of artists on his own designs.
In the 1980s, relationships between luxury brands and artists were advanced when Alain Dominique Perrin created the Fondation Cartier. In the Fondation Cartier pour l’Art Contemporain, a book marking the foundation’s 20th anniversary, Perrin says he makes “a connection between all the different sorts of arts, and luxury goods are a kind of art. Luxury goods are handicrafts of art, applied art.”
The Fondation Cartier pour l’Art Contemparain building in Paris
Elizabeth Schofield of Fashion’s Collective explains why revenue analysis and technology review should not be the first steps in launching e-commerce online
Elizabeth Schofield of Fashion’s Collective explains why revenue analysis and technology review should not be the first steps in launching e-commerce online
We now operate in an environment where ecommerce is no longer a buzz word. Much aligned with the digital space, we have moved quickly beyond the idea of ecommerce into the worlds of Web 3.0, social commerce and integrated commerce. This change can be partially credited to the recession, which created an atmosphere where brands no longer tolerated the negative impact to their bottom lines that occurred when retailers scooped up all of a brand’s online sales. Ecommerce is now standard.
As the fashion and luxury worlds embrace technology, brands today are faced with one of two scenarios:
– The re-launch of ecommerce to offer a better integrated, social and engaging experience that is more aligned with the brand image.
– The first-time launch of their ecommerce platform.
However, what most businesses fail to realize in either of these cases is that an analysis of the potential revenue or a review of ecommerce solutions is not the first step. In fact, New York based digital marketing agency nylmedia has coined an entirely new stage in the process that they call “PreCommerce”, a phase most brands neglect initially and pay the price for later.
So what exactly is PreCommerce?
PreCommerce is what is needed to prepare your brand and your audience for ecommerce in a way that positions the brand for success and maximizes both revenue and engagement.
The genesis of PreCommerce is based on a desire for the brand to sell direct to the customer, but often brands don’t have the actual databases or analytics to know exactly who the customer is, as this information is owned by the retailer. However, for a brand to go from selling successfully through retailers to selling successfully directly to the customer, several factors must be considered.
Many brands believe that a monthly user base of 5,000 – 10,000 uniques will support a healthy ecommerce business…not so, say Ross Anderson and Gregg Berger of nylmedia. The threshold for many brands should really be set at a minimum of 30,000 – 50,000 uniques per month in order to reap the rewards and justify the costs of ecommerce.
“ The first step to building an audience includes determining who your actual customer is, capturing information & initiating a communication program ”
Hence, the first step to building an audience includes determining who your actual customer is, capturing information and initiating a communication program which may include email and social media. As your customer base becomes accustomed to interacting with you, you provide them with a reason to keep checking in with the brand, and this repeat visitation and increased engagement is critical to improve ecommerce results.
“Essentially, brands ‘own’ their customers and control the communications and messaging.” Anderson continues, “Once a brand has this type of access and control of their customer base, the opportunities are endless.”
Something of specific consideration here is conversion rates and how this relates to your product’s price point. We know that the higher the price point, the lower the conversion rate. Therefore, if your product is dresses, priced $500 – $4,000, the minimum threshold of traffic would certainly need to be 30,000 – 50,000 uniques, because it’s more difficult to attain the same conversion rates.
“ Your customer is used to purchasing your product through a retailer. What’s to keep them from continuing to do so? ”
It’s also a good idea to look at each category within your brand’s product offering, and segment audiences based on who’s buying what. Handbags and shoes, for example, have lower barriers to entry compared to apparel because there are fewer barriers to purchasing online.
Building the relationship you have with your audience is key. After all, your customer is used to purchasing your product through a retailer. What’s to keep them from continuing to do so? Amongst other factors, this relationship is integral.
Search, both paid (Search Engine Marketing) and organic is the other major factor. If you are not optimizing search and practicing SEM, then what is to keep people from clicking on your site instead of clicking on the retailer that they typically purchase your product from? Add in local search, Google shopping results and other sponsored or organic results, the brand’s website can often get lost in the clutter.
“ Only 10% of keyword searches by brand will end up on a brand’s website. Most users search for a specific product within your brand ”
A startling statistic is that of keyword searches for your brand; chances are only 10% end up clicking on your brand’s website. The reason why? Most users search for a specific product within your brand.
SEM
A timeline for PreCommerce:
1. Identify people seeking, searching for and talking about your brand
2. Send messages via ads encouraging users to fan your brand on Facebook, follow your brand on Twitter and subscribe to your brand via email.
3. Leverage these ambassadors to strengthen your base through an ongoing communication plan.
4. Once the fan base has reached your minimum threshold, launch ecommerce and communicate this launch to your audience.
Source: nylmedia
An important distinction that nylmedia points out is that, in the PreCommerce stage, this is not yet about new customer acquisition, which comes once your ecommerce site is properly in place. The trick is to find your audience, build a stronger relationship with them, and steer them toward retail partners while your ecommerce is being setup, at which point you steer them back toward your brand directly.
As brands take their next steps in ecommerce, consideration for a PreCommerce strategy may just be the factor that determines success.
Founder & President, The FC Tech Group
As the founder of FC Tech Group, Elizabeth is focused on leading the customer experience practice across luxury verticals. Her involvement in client work includes bringing research and audit results to life through executive education, prioritized action plans, and developing platforms of internal thought leadership within organizations.