The COVID-19 pandemic drastically changed the shopping experience for both customers and businesses. As markets and malls stayed closed for months due to restrictions imposed by governments to check the virus spread, a large number of brands worked on ways to reach out to their customers. This was especially true for high-end luxury brands that have a very niche clientele. So, from online image consulting and personal styling services through video calling, these brands went all out to adapt innovative technology to reach out to their customers. Their efforts coincided with a growing trend of people making luxury purchases online. According to a Bain & Co research, global online luxury purchases increased year on year by as much as 50% from $4.6 billion in 2019 to around $6.9 billion in 2020. The research also shows that online shopping now accounts for 23% of the overall luxury market.
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Reimagining business
Recently, Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE, commonly referred to as LVMH or Louis Vuitton (LMVH), a French conglomerate specializing in luxury goods, has partnered with the Google Cloud. LMVH has said that it will leverage Google Cloud’s technology and Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning tools to improve new business use cases at scale. LVMH is looking to modernize its IT infrastructure and achieve the agility, security, cost-efficiency, and performance required to perform its business operations at scale. According to a statement released by the company, the partnership aims to “empower LVMH’s Maisons (high-end ready-to-wear fine products) to create new, personalized customer experiences that foster long-term growth”.
“The last 18 months have been transformational and made clear the need to leverage data. The goal is to make a customer’s experience more fluid,” LVMH Managing Director Antonio Belloni was quoted as saying.
The company further said that “AI will increasingly touch every part of the operation, from product development to the supply chain and interactions between employees and customers”. Meanwhile, Google Cloud’s Chief Executive Officer Thomas Kurian said, “The Google Cloud partnership will help LVMH understand the consumer better. To really get value from data, you need to link all the domains within the organization.”
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Innovative ways
Many other Brands like H&M and Decathlon are using Location Intelligence and Radio Frequency identification (RFID) to track their inventory and monitor stock levels. With the help of Indoor Mapping and Internet of Things (IoT) technology, customers can navigate their way inside the store to reach their desired product section.
Recently, Sephora launched an Augmented Reality (AR) mirror, which is powered by ModiFace. It makes color testing easier by simulating makeup products on a user’s face to show what they would look like in real-time, without having to upload a photo. The technology is also being introduced at standalone retail kiosks, with a touchscreen monitor and camera, as well as a mobile application that can be used on tablets at beauty counters.
Earlier, Beauty brands like Lakme India and Laura Merceier teamed up with Perfect Corp., an AI and AR beauty technology solution provider, to bring forth virtual beauty AR Try-On experience so that customers can try the products virtually, even on social media advertisements or on the brands’ app before placing the order. This is to change the shopping experience for consumers and engage them virtually for a more extended period.
Some luxury brands such, as Burberry, Tommy Hilfiger and Estée Lauder are using AI-based chatbots to enhance customer service experience. These chatbots perform basic functionalities such as updating status of purchase orders, stock availability, and interact with customers as salesperson at all times of the day. These chatbots are also designed to understand customer behavior and make real-time decisions.
