deliveries of goods in the right quantity and size and to the right location,
effective computing and category management systems must be put in place.
Other related issues such as electronic billing, taxation calculation and secure
payments can only be achieved through competent computing coordination.
Creating computer networks between suppliers, manufacturers and retailers is
one way of accomplishing effective computing management.
Effective computing is essential in e-retail particularly with the rapid
change of the online product variety. This is because luxury brands currently
have an increasing variety in product offering and a decreasing product life-
cycle. The implication of this is an enlarged assortment of goods that require
effective management online. In addition to product management, luxury
brands can also extend computing systems to empower customers through
providing tools for online order tracking and mapping for store directions.Customer franchise
Customer franchise is the sum of the associations of trust, confidence, image
and overall feelings that a consumer has developed in relation to a brand, as
a result of their experiences with the brand online. Customer franchise can be
directly linked with brand positioning and brand equity, which have been
extensively discussed in Chapter 5 of this book. The branding element is of
paramount importance to luxury fashion brands because the brand strength
sustains the online experience with the customer. In order to build trust with
the online consumer, a high customer franchise is essential.Customer care
Customer care and customer services are among the current buzzwords in the
business vocabulary. Excellent customer service does not begin and end with
placing pleasant looking employees behind polished desks to respond to
queries. Effective customer care is extended to every aspect of a customer’s
contact with a brand. The current reality is that the majority of luxury brands
have a poor rating among consumers with regard to the provision of customer
services both online and offline. This is because, for a long time, the luxury
sector focused on product sales rather than customer experience enhancement
as a source of advantage. The internet has however made the challenge of
achieving consistent and efficient customer services easy.
Online consumers lack the human interaction of offline retailing and this
factor must be compensated to enhance the web experience. Some ways of
achieving this and enhancing customer services online are the following:- Fast and reliable delivery of goods.
- Quick returns, refunds and exchanges of goods.
- After-sales services both online and offline.
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