E-retail strategy options
The next step after determining the suitability of the e-retail of luxury fash-
ion goods is the selection of the appropriate e-retail strategy option. The core
of the e-retail strategy is the choice of the approach to adopt towards e-retail.
Several luxury brands often fall into the unfounded conclusion that internet
presence and a strong brand identity equals guaranteed online sales. This is
one of the biggest misconceptions of luxury e-retail. Success on the web is
unachievable without a defined e-retail strategy that fits with the overall
branding and marketing strategies. This factor cannot be overemphasized. If
a brand doesn’t have a clear e-retail strategy that is aligned to its offline
strategies, it runs the risk of losing consumer loyalty in the long run. Also in
addition to website design and execution, e-retail has implications for other
channels of distribution in respect of supply chain, logistics, product orders
and delivery, taxes, payments and security, returns, refunds and exchanges.
These important factors ought to be considered in the choice of an e-retail
strategy.
The classified strategic e-retail options are shown in Figure 6.6 followed
by an explanation of the implications of each strategic choice.Strategic option one: e-retail only
The main activity of the luxury fashion retailers that have adopted this strate-
gic option is that of exclusive e-retailing of luxury fashion goods. As a result,194
luxury fashion brandingTable 6.2 The ES (electronic shopping) test
Product Product Familiarity Consumer Total
characteristics attributes
(0–10) (0–10) (0–30)
Women’s wear 7 7 21 35
Men’s wear 5 6 19 30
Handbags 8 8 25 41
Luggage 8 7 22 37
Shoes 5 5 20 30
Timepieces 5 5 10 28
Eyewear 5 7 17 21
Jewellery 3 5 10 18
Fragrance 2 9 19 30
Home items 5 6 14 25
Cosmetics 6 9 22 37
Key:
Black: Low ES potential
Red: Medium ES potential
Blue: High ES potential
Source: Adapted from Harris and Dennis (2002), Marketing the e-business.