Having worked in the fashion industry I once made the mistake of assuming that customer reviews are common across most online shopping experiences, offering a peer-guided view to the vast marketplace. However, I couldn’t ignore the mysterious absence of this feature on the websites of mammoth luxury brands’ native websites, like Hermès and Chanel, but are often noted on luxury department store websites like Saks and Nordstrom. Upon further investigation I realised that this omission on brands’ native websites is not an oversight but a nuanced strategy aligned with the prestigious realm of luxury retailing. This article elucidates the reasons behind the lack of reviews on native websites and explores how this omission actually helps digital business goals.
YSL’s native site with no ratings and reviews pictured against Nordstrom’s site with a 4.8 rating.
Keeping Opinions, Personal
Luxury brands have long thrived on a halo of exclusivity, attracting and captivating high-net-worth clientele. Unlike mainstream retail, luxury thrives on its elite status, which could potentially be diluted with an influx of varied online opinions. By forgoing a reviews section on their native websites, luxury brands maintain tightly controlled brand narratives, ensuring that the allure of exclusivity remains untarnished. This allows sentiments and grievances to be shared through the omni-channel rather than being publicised.
Feedback Collection
Luxury brands feel that the common practice of asking for customer feedback is insensitive. Katherine Sousa of the Luxury Institute once dismissed customer surveys as “tacky“. This sentiment underscores the delicate balance required in soliciting customer feedback without undermining the luxury ethos. The absence of a reviews section epitomizes this balance, allowing luxury brands to sidestep a practice seen as inappropriate with the world of luxury.
Tailoring Digital Strategies
Digital change has brought new ways for customers to interact, making it tricky for luxury brands to mix old values with new ways of selling. By not showing reviews online, these brands stubbornly stick to their core beliefs, creating a digital plan that keeps customers happy and protects their brand image.
Trust In Alternative Avenues
It is imperative to have trust between customers and brands. Luxury brands know that online platforms can feel distant, so they use special methods to build trust. This means offering things like special events, personal shoppers, and great customer service. These efforts make up for not having online reviews and help get both new and returning customers.
Reviews On External Platforms
While the reviews section remains vacant on brand native luxury websites, the discussion around luxury products’ performance flourishes on external platforms. Luxury brands can harness the power of positive reviews, social media mentions, and word-of-mouth on external platforms to strengthen their online reputation, driving both primary and secondary conversions. Through these external mediums not only do consumers learn about the product but also about the exclusive shopping and customer experience as well as special treatment.
The Path To Conversions
The nuanced approach to online reviews reflects the broader strategy of luxury brands in the digital domain. By maintaining an exclusive brand narrative, fostering trust through personalized interactions, and leveraging external platforms, luxury brands successfully navigate the digital marketplace. The silence of the reviews section on luxury websites emerges not as a void, but a strategic silence that propels luxury brands closer to their digital business goals. On one hand, to understand the products better customers are forced to visit stores and experience the specialised shopping services in their fullest reality, often leaving satisfied. On the other hand, experienced shoppers feel comfortable shopping online despite reviews as they know they will receive a personalized response to any feedback and grievances.
Luxury brands online try to balance keeping their old values and using new digital tools in unusual but effective ways. Even as they update their online plans, not having reviews on their websites shows how they value being exclusive and hands-on in the luxury market.
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