Hard luxury brands break into digital

Today online sales represent a healthy chunk of the luxury market. E-commerce is being taken seriously by most key players in the high-end segment, including hard luxury brands. Let’s see why brands sell hard luxury online, what issues they face when switching to e-commerce, and how immersive technologies help them succeed.

Why hard luxury brands break into digital

Online retail brings many benefits to hard luxury brands. E-commerce is a perfect channel to reach the younger digital-native audience. Millennials and Gen Z are expected to make up more than 60% of luxury spending by 2026. These generations have high expectations for digital, omnichannel, and social experiences, so an online presence is now a must for brands seeking to attract, engage and retain them.

Besides this, online sales allow brands to deliver luxury experiences to customers who can’t visit their brick-and-mortar stores for some reason. E-commerce came in as a savior during the pandemic when brands that used to rely heavily on in-store sales had to find new ways to sell their high-end products. Today, online sales help hard luxury brands expand into new markets where they don’t have physical stores.

What issues hard luxury retailers face when going online

Recognizing all the benefits of e-commerce, many hard luxury brands try to gain online market share and launch online stores. However, hard luxury items, which include expensive timeless pieces like jewelry and watches, have many tiny details like gems, clasps, hands, and straps, and it’s crucial for hard luxury consumers to examine items from all angles. This is impossible when shopping online. What’s more, high-end consumers are accustomed to the service and personalized approach they experience in luxury stores. So when a luxury brand goes online, they need to meet these high expectations in order not to lose customers.

To bridge this gap between online and offline, hard luxury brands integrate immersive technologies into consumers’ shopping journeys. Immersive content like 3D product images, AR demonstration of items, and virtual try-on help retailers kill two birds with one stone: they provide a detailed and interactive visualization of hard luxury items and at the same time create an engaging online shopping experience for luxury consumers.

How hard luxury brands can use immersive technology to compete online

A great example of how a hard luxury brand can improve the online shopping experience with immersive tech is a dynamic try-on experience, like Parisian high jewelry brand REZA offers on their website. It allows consumers to try on earrings, bracelets, and rings without visiting REZA’s brick-and-mortar store.

Chopard, the Swiss luxury jeweler and watchmaker, has also used virtual try-on technology to meet luxury consumers’ ever-changing expectations. The brand launched a Snapchat filter for their My Happy Hearts collection, allowing customers to virtually try on items before buying them. The collection is popular with Gen Z and millennials, so the purpose of the campaign was to address younger generations.

How to integrate immersive technologies into online shopping

Cappasity provides hard luxury brands with all the necessary tools to create and integrate immersive experiences. Our scalable turnkey solution allows brands to create a 3D product visualization of one SKU within as little as 3 minutes without manual 3D modeling.

A Cappasity 3D View (Cappasity’s proprietary 3D format) is fully interactive and provides online shoppers with the opportunity to rotate the desired hard luxury items as if they’re holding them in their hands. HD Zoom allows consumers to examine every tiny detail of high-end pieces, even read the hallmark, and purchase with confidence. The additional interactivity of the 3D View format enriches the online shopping experience and helps luxury brands deliver the service their customers expect.

On top of all this, Cappasity allows brands to create try-before-you-buy experiences. If your brand sells expensive high-end watches, it makes sense to offer virtual try-on to online shoppers to ensure they accurately evaluate the size of the watch dial and get a complete understanding of the product. Unlike other solutions, Cappasity’s AR watches try-on doesn’t require a wrist marker, which makes it easy to use. Our solution allows the user to take a photo of the watch on their wrist and share it on social media, which will definitely appeal to Gen Z consumers.

With Cappasity’s virtual try-on for rings, luxury brands can make jewelry shopping effortless and completely interactive. The solution utilizes the AR hologram of a ring that is both photorealistic and easy to create. It allows the consumer to try the ring directly on their hand to see how it fits in a next-to-real setting. Since rings are an expensive purchase, customers will be able to make an informed decision after having tried several options remotely. It’s a perfect solution to closely simulate the luxury in-store shopping experience.

To provide your customers with unforgettable online shopping experiences, contact our team at support@cappasity.com

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