The internet is an increasingly important sales channel for most mass mechandizing products and one that traditional SCM has incorprated as a unique distribution channel with very low set up costs. SCMluxe however treats the internet as more of an channel to inform a customer of the product rather than to actually sell. This is mainly due to the nature of distribution in luxe products that requires a high customer touchpoint and experience before the purchase is made. Thus SCMluxe will normally utilize the internet to inform and build brand awarenedd for potential customers. Hence one needs to keep in mind several very imporatnt facets when designing and maintaining an internet presence for a luxury good:
- Utilize own websites to promote and inform about the product or associate with an internet site that suitably identifies with the brand. "Never" utilize mass e-retailing sites like e-bay, amazon etc (as seen from the recent slew of court cases between Tiffany and e-bay...)
- Ensure the website informs rather than "sells". This also means go slow on the animations/ special effects etc which might not really show up on devices like iPads or iPhones. Alternately have dual versions for mobile devices. Remember customers will prefer to intensively research and compare a high value product before heading down to a store for the actual purchase
- Meta tag appropriately so that the web site shows up for the correct search criteria and is ranked fairly high up. Use SEO or Search Engine Optimization techniques. Remember that using excessive flash diminishes chances of search engines recognizing and ranking web sites higher up in priority/relevance
- Use membership based access to special views on the website
Any other pointers readers can suggest for websites?
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| Half minute to download and heavy on flash |
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