How appointment scheduling can solve luxury retail challenges
September 16, 2024
As the market is constantly evolving, and customers are becoming more demanding, industries must adapt. Nowadays, the majority of consumers prefer to shop, or at least pre-shop, online before going to the store. They want a quick answer and won’t buy or visit your store if you don’t give them enough motivation. Therefore, luxury houses need to find a way to capture that interest while consumers are on their website in order to convert and avoid them from going to a competitor.
Here are three important challenges luxury brands are facing and how to solve them with appointment scheduling.
In terms of acquiring new customers, especially through digital channels, appointment scheduling is a great way to engage with clients from the first contact. Indeed, offering people the opportunity to book an appointment to visit your store or to talk over the phone with a sales associate can allow you to showcase what your brand is all about.
Many luxury brands offer their clients the opportunity to make an appointment for a consultation with one of their experts in order to answer any questions that they might have. Appointment-based consultations are a great way to get in-depth expertise on any product. Whether the consultation takes place virtually or in person, it allows consumers to access personalized information and gain certain knowledge on the product or services, always with that human touch. Moreover, since this service can be provided online, customers who don't have the time to visit a store can benefit from relevant and professional advice directly from their home. By receiving advice from an expert, clients will likely gain the confidence to make a purchase.
Luxury retailers also use appointment scheduling to acquire new clients by offering any other premium experiences such as exclusive events, private sales, private shopping sessions or even exclusive product launches. By offering these unique experiences, brands can attract new customers and demonstrate the value of their products and services. Experiential commerce is the perfect way to activate people within a community and let them discover the brand universe.
Another challenge luxury brands have to face is converting online traffic. Nowadays, we observe a 3% conversion rate that businesses are desperate to increase. Brands need to stop focusing on that number and rather put all their efforts on that 97% missed opportunity. Online appointment scheduling is a tool that can be optimized in order to convert. Indeed, the results speak for themselves: when an appointment is scheduled, we're seeing up to a 90% conversion rate following any successful appointment. The reason why people are more likely to purchase after an appointment is because of the human touch. Having an associate answer all the questions they might have and dedicate all the time they need while having a friendly conversation will create some kind of affection towards the brand and give them the motivation to buy.
Experiential commerce is a great way to bring your customers back in store for any additional service/product. For example, you could offer them different kinds of services by appointment: personalization, after-sales services or even VIP events to make them come back to your store. An appointment scheduling strategy is really what allows you to capture first-party customer data, and then re-engage with those customers. Repeat business is what leads to building customer loyalty and brand advocacy. As customers experience exclusive events, private shopping sessions and VIP access tailored to their interests, they develop a stronger bond with the brand. This encourages customers to come back for more products or services.
As you probably understood, appointment scheduling is the perfect solution for luxury retailers to acquire new clients, convert web traffic into customers and repeat business. By setting up exclusive services through appointment scheduling, luxury brands can provide potential customers with a unique experience tailored to their interests. Doing so offers potential customers the opportunity to learn more about the brand and entices them to purchase products or services. Additionally, these events create long-term customer loyalty which furthers repeat business for luxury retailers.
In terms of numbers, one of our Clients that specializes in luxury shoes uses Booxi for acquisition and conversion and has booked 530 appointments in four months resulting in $286,000 in sales! That represents an increase of two times the average basket size compared to spontaneous walk-ins. With appointment scheduling, their conversion rates jumped to 61% while 57% are new clients!
