Direct email marketing often a key way for luxury brands to drive growth

Exane BNP Paribas and ContactLab recently released their collaborative report, “The Digital Frontier: Ready? Steady! Go!” that looks at the current state of the top 30 players in the high-end fashion from a digital communication and sales perspective. The study shows that 10% of luxury brand sales are currently linked to digital strategies, and that number is expected to grow so long as the overall luxury industry grows at 5-6% and continues to drive 20-30% in eCommerce growth. Digging further within that 10%, we find that consumers who are registered to loyalty programs via email campaigns will spend more in store than those who do not receive direct digital marketing. This figure is most pronounced in the UK, where 20% of total sales in mono-brand stores was generated by consumers linked to an email loyalty program. Overall, consumers receiving digital marketing spend 30% more on average cross-channel, than in-store only clients.

These statistics all seem very encouraging, except when one considers that many (or most) luxury brands do not effectively manage the call to action for collecting email addresses. Websites must be defined to encourage sign-ups and store managers must be trained to capture email addresses at checkout. Neither the sign-up nor the follow-up process can be intrusive or impersonal. Massimo Fubini, Founder and CEO of ContactLab points out that “emails are the best way to build relationships over time and will bemuch more effective if they guarantee clients access to customized and relevantcontact.” Digital consumers are living in an increasingly personalized world, and luxury brands must keep up.