The luxury industry today must deal with new issues tied to the advances of the Internet. This type of media touches all socio-cultural levels. The software synthesis tools (CSP++) and the techniques of e-marketing necessary to educate and inform the public are evolving quite rapidly.
The changes are very clear. The share of marketing budgets allocated to the Internet is constantly increasing, and today equals about 7 percent, on average. International e-advertising campaigns are now attracting media budgets that had remained, for a long time, out of reach. We are also observing that websites are being rebuilt on a regular basis, about every three years. Multi-lingual organic referencing and other e-marketing actions are now directed by the hands of an expert webmaster. The goal is to attract more prospects to the official websites of brands, and then offer them a unique experience in the universe of luxury.
It is, however, surprising to note that once visitors are on the official website of a luxury brand or luxury online boutique, they are all welcomed in the same way, yet each one of them has different expectations.
On a store’s website, it is fundamentally important to provide a pleasant and personalized sales experience. When he enters a luxury bricks and mortar store, Mr. Smith appreciates the cordial welcome by the salesperson, who offers him a coffee, takes the time to talk to him about what he is looking for, and tries to understand his needs, even the non-verbalized ones. Every client is unique. It is necessary to understand the needs and expectations of each, both in the physical store and online.
Imagine for a minute, a business man who visits a watch brand’s site because he wants to purchase a model that he saw a week earlier on the same site. Then, visualize a young girl, who, after searching Google for a watch that she saw on the wrist of her favourite actress, also lands on the same site.
These two people have intentions and behaviour that are diametrically opposed, yet they are received in the same manner on this site – anonymously.
Is this luxury?

A unique and conclusive experience
There are, today, solutions to personalize a website as a function of the visitor who comes to it. This personalization can be geographic, behavioural, or based on intent.
Taking our preceding example, the tools for personalizing the experience would permit, in the first case, of detecting that the businessman is from London and that the watch he is looking for is available only in certain stores in that city. As soon as he arrives on the home page of the brand’s site, he would be presented the model in question, with the address and contact information of the stores where the watch is available.
In the second case, the young girl arrives at the same home page after searching on Google.ru (Russia). She would immediately see the watch she liked on the wrist of the brand’s emissary. Then she would be guided throughout her navigation of the site as a function of her searches and her geographical location.
In this way, each visitor feels accompanied and guided from the beginning, and continuing right up to leaving the site, with perhaps a watch on order and a smile on the lips.

Attaining more effective marketing
Brands that have used personalization on their sites have seen their conversion rates skyrocket – between a 40 percent and 200 percent increase in the rate of click-throughs and sales. This is because the experience they provide to their prospective customers is very conducive to actually purchasing the product.
Before increasing investments targeted at attracting traffic onto a site, it is preferable to work on the body of the site itself. The personalization tools offer unquestionably higher conversion rates, and therefore, a return on investment of all marketing activities.
In the same way that it is inconceivable to invest in a bricks and mortar boutique without having a good sales team, it is also unthinkable for a brand to not include a personalization tool on its site, which is, after all, its window to the whole world.


Holistis
After five years of research and development, the experts at IC-Agency have launched Holistis, a personalization tool, whose annual cost is much less than that of a sales team in a bricks and mortar boutique that necessarily has only a limited clientele.
Designed by marketers for marketers, the software is easily and quickly implemented, requiring only a small amount of time from the website’s IT team.
Up to now, these tools were not widely accessible due to their excessive cost, which could reach more than a million dollars. Only large e-commerce sites, such as Amazon.com, could afford them, thus offering their clients the most luxurious experience on the web.
The IC-Agency’s new tool allows the brand’s marketing professionals to identify their prospects in real time, and offer them an online experience that is as personal and attentive as the one they would have in the regular store.


Source: Europa Star October-November 2007 Magazine Issue