Luxury brands and e-commerce "take advantage of the digital era": A research on consumer insight and attitudes on the online sale of luxury goods

Abstract

Today, the Internet represents one of the greatest growth drivers, essential in all industries. Most of the brands are now starting to be present on the platform: own sales website, web partners sales, social media pages, etc. However, the adoption of the Internet by luxury brands is a paradox: the true sense of the definition of luxury versus the actual utilization of the Internet. It has been slow to be adopted in the luxury market: luxury must reflect the values of uniqueness, rarity and selectivity with a unique purchasing and consumption experience while the Internet is ordinary, collective, independent, virtual and represents a mass market tool. Therefore, despite their strong need for exclusivity control and even sense of definition, luxury brands are forced to also appropriate this new communication tool and more difficult to use it as a distribution tool. Indeed, it is questionable whether it is appropriate to use digital as a distribution channel (ecommerce) and not only as a communication channel for luxury brands while at the same time highlighting the core essence of the definition of Luxury. Accordingly, this research has targeted the online sales of luxury brands and more specifically examines consumer attitudes and insights regarding the sale of luxury goods on the Internet.