Luxury stores add more amenities in a tougher market
Buying some suits at Ralph Lauren might mean being offered a chauffeured ride home in a BMW. New clothes from Saks could lead to a Mercedes-Benz van carrying a customized wardrobe pulling up to a home, hotel or office.
With designer goods available online anytime, luxury retailers are adding more amenities and personal touches for in-person shopping. Stores overall are facing slower sales amid more restrained luxury spending, and some brands’ flagship locations in major cities have seen a drop in shopping by international tourists because of the stronger U.S. dollar.
That makes it even more important for retailers to keep the customers they have feeling valued and pampered.
Robert Burke, president of his namesake New York-based luxury consulting business, said he was surprised when the Ralph Lauren sales staff sent him back to his office with a uniformed driver after he came in to buy two suits. He was offered the same chauffeured treatment for the fitting. And he was so pleased with the service he bought a coat and blazer on the visit to do the alterations, and penned a note to the founder’s chief of staff with thanks.
“It made you feel they really appreciated my business, and it made me want to shop. It was a nice perk to have a driver come and pick you up,” he said.
What Burke hadn’t realized was that the Ralph Lauren store in Manhattan earlier this year began picking up and dropping off customers in a BMW sporting a small company logo. It’s expected to serve as a model for the kind of service the company wants to offer customers at its top stores. At the soon-to-open Beverly Hills store, a fulltime concierge will offer services beyond shopping, like making dinner reservations or recommending art galleries.
Lafayette 148 New York, a clothing brand that sells to Saks, Neiman Marcus and other upscale retailers, also offers a pick-up and drop-off service for customers at two Manhattan stores. Neiman Marcus Group’s Bergdorf Goodman has expanded the number of translators at its New York store for international shoppers. Credit card holders for both retailers can access a 24-hour concierge service to book travel or theatre tickets.
And the Americana Manhasset Mall on Long Island, which offers a free personal shopping service for the open-air center that includes stores such as Louis Vuitton and Chanel, is working to provide more service. The personal shoppers, who used to work just with the stores at the mall, now go for training at the corporate offices or meet with the brand’s corporate staff at the shopping mall so they can better serve the customer.
Saks Fifth Avenue, under new President Marc Metrick, is offering what he calls “more high-touch” experiences. At the lower Manhattan store, that can be “power lunch” packages for wardrobe styling and makeup application in less than 60 minutes. A “Saks Save Me” service lets shoppers call a dedicated number to resolve fashion emergencies within 24 hours. And in 15 U.S. markets it can send the wardrobe van.