The June 2010 Wealth Report Newsletter is now available for members.
In this month's issue:
- Retail Round-Up: Luxury Continues to Lead Retailers in May
- Luxury Institute WealthSurvey: Multichannel Shopping Habits of Ultra Wealthy Consumers
- Luxury Institute Luxury Brand Status Index (LBSI) Rankings-Japan:
-Women’s Fashion
-Women’s Handbags
-Women’s Shoes
-Men’s Fashion
-Men’s Shoes - Scoring In-Store Luxury Experiences
Members can access this report and an archive of past reports on our website (login required). More on the report from our partner the Luxury Institute here.
There is always good information in the Wealth Report newsletters, and I found this month's WealthSurvey on the online shopping habits of the Ultra Wealthy particularly interesting and worth considering in the context of your own online presence. Here is a quick summary of their findings:
Even when the Web is not the channel through which a purchase is made, the Internet is still a powerful and popular tool that has become integral in the shopping process for many luxury categories.
- Seventy-three percent of ultra wealthy consumers use the Internet for online shopping more than they did five years ago
- 75% say they are satisfied shopping online for luxury goods and services.
- Two-thirds (65%) say that online shopping has become simpler than it was five years ago, and 55% cite the greater availability of sites that permit and encourage shopping as factors behind greater usage.
- Simple navigation and ease of use are the most important site attributes, say 95% of ultra wealthy shoppers
- 94% cite email notification of orders and an easy check-out experience as top criteria.
- Relatively unimportant according to ultra wealthy shoppers are connections to Facebook and Twitter (73%), and the availability of downloadable widgets (71%) or mobile phone applications (69%).
- The biggest reason for not shopping online is the desire to touch and feel products, cited by 59% of respondents.
- One in four (24%) refuse to shop online because of fear products could be counterfeit and 21% are not comfortable sharing personal data online.
(Emphasis above mine)
The key take-aways?
If you want to get and keep their attention, your website must be simple, easy to navigate, and easy to use. Does your site measure up? What sites do you think they rely on most when searching for homes? How are your listings presented on those sites?Email is much more important than social networking with this group. Think about what this suggests about their communication preferences. My guess is that they want simple, clear, concise, and timely information in a familiar channel that fits in their existing schedule and work-flow. Ask and be clear on their communication preferences when working with these folks. Also, think about your time and marketing spend when it comes to your online presence and what percentage of your attention and dollars are going to your website, social media, etc.
One-in-four have little "trust" in online interactions and are hesitant to share personal information online. Consider this if you require website users to sign-in or provide personal information. There had better be a clear reason and a good payoff for them. You will have to earn their trust.
