We have 7 Rules of the Road that will help make the journey a profitable one. The rules are inspired by rich conversations with top executives at luxury conferences and one-on-one meetings with all the critical constituencies involved in online luxury.
Rule #4
4. Luxury CEOs and their senior management teams need a crash course on the fundamentals of the Internet.
On a scale of 1-10, today’s luxury CEOs and most of their executive teams probably rate a generous 5 on Internet knowledge and expertise. In a high-growth environment, these executives were too busy growing the business via traditional channels. In a severe downturn, they are busy making sure the business survives. Internet innovation is not on the list of the top three most critical courses of action needed to run the business in a severe economic crisis. And yet, the Internet will become the flagship store and strategic centerpiece for most luxury brands (and, yes, there will be successful exceptions), although many executive teams do not yet realize this. What is needed is profound, objective, unbiased education on consumer habits and online selling and marketing options. Only then will senior luxury executives be able to make strategic and tactical decisions on the current and future customer experience. And only by educating themselves first, will they be able to lead their brands to innovation beyond the commoditized customer experiences one finds today on the Internet.
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