Web commerce may be well into its second decade, but as few as a third of global luxury brands are selling online and half of those who currently do not sell online have no plans to do so. This is one of the findings of a survey in which Walpole, the trade association for the British luxury industry, worked with independent technology and market research company, Forrester Research, to probe what executives in luxury businesses really think about online business. Among the reasons given by respondents is that e-commerce is “inappropriate” and their customers prefer the physical retail experience.
These findings surprised us and may alarm others in the luxury sector. They come at a time when the received wisdom is that the past 12 months has seen an increase in luxury online activity, with more e-commerce capabilities, better digital marketing strategies, and new web-only start-ups.
