The penetration of smartphones and other mobile devices, such as tablets, into the affluent consumer market offers luxury brands ideal platforms to target, communicate and engage with customers and prospects. And with roughly 61 percent of the wealthiest Americans owning a smartphone (those making over $330,000 in annual household income), luxury brands who haven’t optimized their websites for mobile devices are sorely remiss. Luxury brands appealing to an under-50 audience should have an even greater urgency to optimize their online presence since a staggering 84 percent of consumers in this universe are smartphone owners.
At this point, mobile optimized websites should be the cost of entry for luxury brands, particularly retail brands. Amazingly, they are not, as Chanel, for example, is the only brand among Dior, Louis Vuitton, Hermes and Gucci to offer an optimized web presence as of early May). Not only is there massive penetration of smartphones among the affluent, but the wealthy are using these devices to compare prices (76 percent) and make purchases (27 percent). Smartphones have become shopping companions.
Mobile applications offer an even greater opportunity for luxury brands since they can use them to offer their audiences personalized, engaging and memorable service. It is no surprise, with their proclivity to purchase smartphones, the affluent segment is an early adopter of these mobile applications.
A marketing medium disguised as a useful service, mobile applications offer an ideal means for a luxury company to stay connected to consumers without compromising its brand perception. In fact, it’s not hard to imagine that a mobile application addressing a latent need has the ability to actually enhance brand loyalty.
As any target-centric marketing professional would agree, while many companies today should be focused on developing a deliberate, thoughtful means to integrate social media into a broader marketing strategy, luxury brands should prioritize mobile, as well. Right now. Mobile marketing offers luxury brands the potential for a dramatic impact – ultimately – on the bottom line.