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New approaches to customer experience: where disruptive technological innovation meets luxury fashion
Abstract and Figures
Consumer behavior is shifting radically with the rise of e-commerce and new technologies. As a result, luxury retailers are forced to embrace a variety of technologies to keep their customers engaged. How do brands captivate shoppers and provide the customer experience that will satisfy their desires? Through dissemination of literature and case studies on examples from the industry, this paper presents a detailed discussion on the new approaches to customer experience in the luxury fashion industry, in the context of a modern economy that is highly shaped by disruptive technological innovations. The discussion includes two detailed case studies, focusing on two key themes that define contemporary customer expectations: the story – discussing customer’s desire to be immersed in the narratives behind catwalk collections, and the experience – discussing the use of technology to create a unique retail space through the use of online and mobile specific technologies. The first case study focuses on how new technologies provide brands with new opportunities to present their products through narratives. Using famous luxury retailers Dior, Givenchy and Prada as examples, the case study provides a detailed discussion on the use of virtual reality and augmented reality as tools that enable customers to project themselves into the story behind a catwalk show and become active characters in the narrative, through the use of technological devices. The second case study focuses on the importance of merging the online and the traditional brick-and-mortar store. “The Store of the Future”, by luxury retailer Farfetch is used as an example of how retailers make use of high-tech equipment, virtual reality and augmented reality not only to create a tech-powered interactive experience that will intrigue customers, but also to improve retail productivity by capturing customer data. The study adopts a qualitative research method to evaluate the validity of the concepts discussed in the Literature Review, using a sample of three in-depth interviews with industry experts, focusing on the use of technology to improve customer experience in physical retail spaces. Based on previously published research, it is estimated that the primary research will indicate that it is not the use of technology that drives the customer experience, but customer expectations that determine the adoption and adaptation of disruptive technologies to satisfy the shoppers’ requirements.
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... 14 The retailer originally operated only as ecommerce and the web traffic collected in 2017 suggests that it is now the leading destination for luxury shopping, outperforming competitors like YOOX Net-a-Porter or Neiman Marcus. 15 It then moved into physical business creating immersive in-store experiences with the employment of impressive digital solutions (Harba, 2019). Its mission is to foster connections among creators, curators, and "discerning consumers." ...
... Data is invaluable to their business 16 and is used to manage human interactions between shop assistants and shoppers. The company's expectation is to release technology that will ensure greater retail productivity and sales and sell this product to other companies to help them to «dissolve temporal or geographical boundaries, in order to deliver the experience that customers require» (Harba, 2019). ...
... Existing studies mainly investigated the consumer experience of virtual luxury fashion shows to understand how the application of VR technology might reshape consumer perception of luxury fashion (Harba, 2019). For instance, consumers, using VR hardware, consider virtual runway shows as a democratization practice that grants more individuals access to an otherwise exclusive experience (Jung et al., 2021). ...
This paper aims to synthesize the existing literature on virtual reality (VR) in the luxury fashion industry, discuss the current practical applications of VR technologies and review previous research undertaken in the luxury fashion field.
This paper conducts a systematic review and thematic analysis of existing literature to evaluate current research concerning VR and the luxury fashion industry. This search initially returned a total of 1,131 sources. After establishing and applying criteria of exclusion and inclusion, a total of 46 articles were selected for the thematic analysis.
Five major themes were identified, including virtual luxury fashion consumption, VR in marketing communication, virtual try-on, VR retail (including virtual fashion retail spaces) and virtual worlds (including customers’ virtual representation as avatars). The importance of these themes for the study of VR in luxury fashion is supported by relevant studies in the literature.
Whilst research into VR use within luxury fashion has increased recently, it remains fragmented. Given the absence of a comprehensive review addressing this topic within the literature, this paper will help scholars and fashion brands better understand the effects of VR on the luxury fashion industry. By integrating current practice and existing research, this paper contributes to a better understanding of how and where VR is used in luxury fashion contexts.
... Customer attitudes change drastically with the advancement of new technologies. The modern shopper requires speed, interactive experiences, diverse shopping channels, a high level of personalization, and bonuses for their allegiance (Harba, 2019). To respond to technological advances, detailers have to break away from legacy service patterns. ...
Theoretical background: The logistics sector is developing rapidly, offering new concepts in the form of stores of the future. They are aimed at streamlining, simplifying, and accelerating the purchasing process for consumers. This work is devoted to the analysis of Polish consumers’ attitudes toward innovations offered by the stores of the future. The authors have attempted to identify factors influencing the willingness of customers to adopt and use new technologies in the clothing industry. The subject of the work also reflects the changes in the contemporary clothing industry. Its future seems to be closely related to the technological progress in the logistics, and commerce. Purpose of the article: The work aims to analyze the consumers’ readiness to accept solutions offered by the stores of the future on the example of the clothing industry and to identify the main barriers to their implementation and use. Research methods: We explored data collected from research participants (N = 172). We used the computer-assisted web interview (CAWI) technique. The online questionnaire was prepared in Google Forms. Main findings: The data collected during the research work became the basis for the following conclusions: consumers are interested in innovation in clothing stores but do not know much about them; comfort, convenience, flexibility, and speed have the greatest impact on consumers’ attitudes towards the purchasing process; customers want to experience various emotions and deepen the consumer experience without having to worry about new forms of clothing purchases.
... In addition to providing product information, these technologies also facilitate immersive marketing experiences. For instance, luxury brands have created pop-up experiences where QR codes scan to reveal AR fashion shows on smartphones, effectively blending the digital and physical shopping environments (Harba, 2019). ...
In the rapidly evolving digital age, artists and creatives are increasingly leveraging QR codes and Near Field Communication (NFC) technologies to redefine the boundaries between the physical and digital worlds. This article explores the diverse and inventive applications of QR codes and NFC in art installations, augmented reality experiences, interactive storytelling, performance art, and marketing campaigns. By incorporating these technologies, artists may create interactive, immersive, and personalized experiences which engage audiences in novel ways. Additionally, the article delves into the technological advancements enabling these innovative applications, including location-based personalization, machine learning, augmented reality, and the seamless interactions facilitated by NFC and Bluetooth technologies. Despite their potential, the article also acknowledges the accessibility challenges posed by QR codes and NFC, highlighting the importance of inclusive design to ensure that these digital experiences are accessible to all users. By examining both the creative possibilities and the challenges of integrating QR codes and NFC into artistic practices, this article sheds light on the future of art in the digital era and the ongoing efforts to bridge the digital divide.
Global car, fashion, and media brands invite enthusiasts to participate in corporate values through brand museums, visitor centers, and factory tours. Those guided tours offer a means to engage their fanbase with the product/service in a more interactive and immersive manner. This study has in its focus the LEGO Inside Tour as a branded assembled spatial story of experiential consumption. Rather than focusing on theme parks as a historically proven place-based engagements with the industry, this study embarks on a journey into a consumer experience via architectural, material and performative inside tour created by the LEGO Group as a corporate engagement strategy filled with commodified meanings of fandom and nostalgia. Drawing from ethnographic fieldwork as a participant observer during the 3-day LEGO Inside Tour in Denmark, the author will discuss the externalization of LEGO brand values into meaningful spaces with symbols of LEGO corporate culture and nostalgia. Finally, the study offers a contextualization of a monumental experience in brand-related places and its role in the contemporary fandom.
The digital market offers users a plethora of choices from products and services to content consumption. However, this abundance of options raises questions about how user choices are tracked, analyzed and utilized by businesses for marketing purposes. So, striking a balance between personalized experiences and user privacy becomes paramount. As the companies utilize cutting-edge technology like Blockchain and Artificial Intelligence (AI) the ethical and regulatory frameworks pertaining to user data are changing. The governments worldwide are enacting and enhancing data protection regulations to safeguard privacy of users. The ethical use of user data is a growing concern and the major issues of transparency, consent and fairness in data practices are crucial to building and maintaining trust with users. Artificial Intelligence plays a pivotal role in enhancing the effectiveness of digital marketing campaigns as from predictive analytics for personalized recommendations to chatbots for customer interactions, AI-driven technologies streamline marketing processes. Blockchain as decentralized and secure nature is increasingly being explored as a solution for enhancing privacy in digital marketing. This chapter comprehensively explores the complex dynamics between online user choices, data analytics and privacy in the context of digital marketing.
The adoption of augmented reality (AR) represents an extraordinary opportunity to enrich the value of the customer brand relationship, especially in fashion retail. Many firms utilise AR technology to enhance the consumer online shopping experience. In the retail industry, AR is gaining increasing traction as a means of improving the customer experience overall. Considering the varied value luxury fashion consumer holds, the purpose of this chapter is to contribute to existing literature and provide insight into the extent to which AR has proliferated in luxury fashion retail.
Although AR has shown that it can enhance the consumer experience, its interactive features are still in the early stages of consumer adoption. Immersive excitement in the shopping experience increases sales and improves consumer engagement. Attracting and engaging the consumer with AR may provide luxury brands with an e-tool to help them lead in the luxury retail sector, which is becoming increasingly competitive. With AR, interactivity, augmentation, immersion, vividness and personalisation have been identified as core characteristics. Hedonic and utilitarian values are also provided through AR, improving the consumer decision-making process. The effect AR can have on luxury fashion can be understood further using the SOR model. Building on this logic, “when an individual encounters a stimulus (S), he/she develops internal states (O), which in turn dictates his/her responses (R)” (Mehrabian & Russell, An approach to environmental psychology. The MIT Press, 1974, p. 298).
Continual innovation and new technology are critical in helping retailers’ create a sustainable competitive advantage. In particular, shopper-facing technology plays an important role in increasing revenues and decreasing costs. In this article, we briefly discuss some of the salient retail technologies over the recent past as well as technologies that are only beginning to gain traction. Additionally, we present a shopper-centric decision calculus that retailers can use when considering a new shopper-facing technology. We argue that new technologies provide value by either increasing revenue through (a) attracting new shoppers, (b) increasing share of volume from existing shoppers, or (c) extracting greater consumer surplus, or decreasing costs through offloading labor to shoppers. Importantly, our framework incorporates shoppers by considering their perceptions of the new technology and their resulting behavioral reactions. Specifically, we argue that shoppers update their perceptions of fairness, value, satisfaction, trust, commitment, and attitudinal loyalty and evaluate the potential intrusiveness of the technology on their personal privacy. These perceptions then mediate the effect of the technology on shopper behavioral reactions such as retail patronage intentions and WOM communication. We present preliminary support for our framework by examining consumers’ perceptions of several new retail technologies, as well as their behavioral intentions. The findings support our thesis that shopper perceptions of the retailer are affected by new shopper-facing technologies and that these reactions mediate behavioral intentions, which in turn drives the ROI of the new technology.
Retailers have embraced a variety of technologies to engage their customers. This article focuses on " The Future of Retailing " by highlighting five key areas that are moving the field forward: (1) technology and tools to facilitate decision making, (2) visual display and merchandise offer decisions, (3) consumption and engagement, (4) big data collection and usage, and (5) analytics and profitability. We also suggest numerous issues that are deserving of additional inquiry, as well as introduce important areas of emerging applicability: the internet of things, virtual reality, augmented reality, artificial intelligence, robots, drones, and driverless vehicles.
A study was conducted to describe some of the factors that needed to be considered for a virtual store. It was revealed that the growth of e-commerce and online businesses has made it essential to understand the critical attributes of image for a virtual store. Store image was described as the way in which the store was defined by customers and several studies. The study compiled 77 designs and features into a list used to construct a survey. Four hundred and twenty-seven potential customers were requested to rate the significance of each item on the list. The information gathered identified designs and features that affected virtual store image formation. The items that involved similar or related designs or features were combined within each dimension. The procedure reduced the number of critical attributes for virtual store image formation that were mapped to the framework of a physical store image.
Creative Research helps readers define their research problem, decide on an appropriate research process and then undertake the project.
Throughout the book, Hilary Collins introduces and analyzes different techniques and procedures for collecting and analyzing a variety of data. The skills necessary to promote the effectiveness and validity of research within the creative industries are highlighted in case studies, all of which also demonstrate what a well-designed research project can achieve.
New to the second edition are detailed explorations of design thinking and ethnography as well as all new case studies on emerging tools and photographic enthnography.
Fashion customers often regard shopping online for clothing as being more of a convenience-based event rather than an experience-bearing touch point, lacking both relational and sensory attributes (Cai, Shen, & Guo, 2012). In a clear attempt to add further dimensions to online retailing, virtual reality (VR) clearly emerged at CES 2015 (Consumer Electronic Show) as a promising solution to watch (Housley, 2015). Within the context outlined above, this chapter set out to explore whether and how online retailers within the fashion industry could bridge the gap between the offline and online customer experience through the use of virtual reality solutions. More specifically, the objectives of this chapter are to: (1) explore the potential impact and possible applications of VR within the fashion retailing industry, (2) identify and critically analyse consumers’ and fashion retailers’ attitudes towards VR, (3) assess contributing factors and barriers to investment in VR solutions by fashion retailers.
Fierce competition in the retailing sector requires companies to differentiate themselves from competitors. To gain competitive advantage, retailers have started to implement new marketing strategies. The objective of this chapter is to present new competitive strategies in retailing. With this aim, the concepts and strategies of experiential retailing, green retailing, fair trade, customer loyalty program, pop-up store, self-service technologies, expiration date-based pricing, Quick Response Code (QR code) has been discussed along with national and international examples of each kind of strategy. In addition, advantages of each strategy are also covered. At the end of this chapter, some managerial implications and suggestions were discussed based on these new retailing strategies.
Purpose
– Experiential marketing is arguably marketing's most contemporary orientation, but as with many marketing innovations it has been largely overlooked by those involved in tourism and hospitality marketing and promotion. Whilst in many industries companies have moved away from traditional features and benefits approaches, to putting experiential marketing centre‐stage, marketing in the tourism and hospitality sectors does not appear to have explicitly engaged the theoretical issues involved. This raises the question what, if anything, does experiential marketing have to offer marketers in the disciplines of tourism and hospitality? In this paper, I will seek to introduce the experiential marketing debate and demonstrate how the questions raised by the concept are critical to an understanding of marketing theory and research within the tourism and hospitality sectors.
Design/methodology/approach
– Following the authors previous publications which sought to investigate alternative paradigms for studying hospitality consumers, this research attempts to consider the practical applications of one such model.
Findings
– The tourism and hospitality sectors cannot be seen to be immune to fundamental changes in the orientation of marketing. Innovative experience design will become an increasingly important component of tourism and hospitality firms core capabilities. Those who go beyond service excellence, and market experientially will lead the creation of value in the sector.
Originality/value
– Provides a framework as to how organisations might usefully implement an experiential marketing strategy.
"In this graduate level text, Michael Myers brings a wealth of insight to the research process. Combining abstract and theoretical considerations with those of a practical nature, such as tips for interviewing or for the final stage of writing up, Myers establishes an expansive resource for those involved in qualitative research that will aid them from start to finish. In this book the reader will be provided with the resources to: Understand the underlying philosophies of qualitative research in business and management Be aware of a variety of qualitative research methods Gain insight into examples of the previous use of qualitative methods in business and managementAnalyze and critically evaluate research, including discussion of using qualitative data analysis softwareCarry out their own research in business and managementWrite up their research for publicationThis book will be an indispensable resource both to those just embarking on their research as well as existing researchers in business and management."--Publisher's website.