Customer value
Consumers seek satisfaction from a brand’s products or services through
obtaining solutions to their needs and wants. In the case of luxury consumers,
these might include emotional and psychological needs. When a luxury fash-
ion consumer purchases a new timepiece from Rolex, the overall pleasure he
obtains from the product not only originates from the physical attributes of
the wrist watch itself, but also emanates from a package of contentment
gained through the total brand experience which the product is a part of. This
is what the customer interprets as benefits and value, and the satisfaction
obtained is called ‘customer value’. In the offline marketing mix, its equiva-
lent is the ‘product’ element. However, rather than focus solely on the prod-
uct features as a source of customer satisfaction, ‘customer value’ emphasizes
the creation of a powerful brand experience in addition to the satisfaction
gained from the brand’s products and services.
The creation of customer value for the online consumer can be achieved
through providing the required product range and adequate tools to viewing
them and also enhancing the web atmosphere. Several luxury brands
wrongly offer a narrow product range in the e-store. Others provide end-of-
season products or goods that no one would buy in the physical stores. For
example, Hermès is best known for its highly coveted leather goods, but the
brand’s website neither provides a means to purchase this product range
online nor information regarding its offline sales. Ideally, luxury brands
ought to offer a complete product range online with a few exceptions such
as limited edition products or other specially-made goods that retain the
brand’s aura.Convenience
Convenience is one of the most important advantages of e-retail. The internet
provides online consumers the comfort to buy what they want, when they
want it through an e-store that is open round the clock. Online consumers also
have the benefit of combining online shopping with other activities. The
internet also offers a retail location without associated problems like accessi-
bility and transport. Convenience replaces ‘Place’ or ‘Distribution’ in the
offline marketing mix.
In order to make the ‘convenience’ experience complete for the consumer,
luxury fashion brands are required to integrate the offline retail offers with
the e-retail strategy. As indicated earlier, real space and cyberspace are not
mutually exclusive but are inter-related and this factor should be reflected in
providing convenience to consumers. This is because several luxury
consumers are multi-channel shoppers who may visit both the website and
the offline store before making a purchase from either or both of the retail
channels. The convenience element should also include effective website204
luxury fashion branding