{"id":884,"date":"2021-03-01T20:34:00","date_gmt":"2023-09-04T20:34:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.salesforce.com\/?p=884"},"modified":"2023-11-02T14:54:20","modified_gmt":"2023-11-02T14:54:20","slug":"luxury-brands-post-covid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.salesforce.com\/eu\/blog\/luxury-brands-post-covid\/","title":{"rendered":"A Time of Change: How Luxury Brands Can Emerge Stronger Post-COVID"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

From fashion to homeware, the luxury sector has been upended by the pandemic. What are the new challenges and opportunities facing the most exclusive brands \u2014 and how should they respond?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you think about luxury brands, you think of heritage, of time-old craftsmanship. It\u2019s an industry steeped in generations of tradition. So what happens when something comes along that forces that industry (and all industries) to rapidly modernise?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At our Salesforce Live: Switzerland 2020 virtual event, we explored how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting luxury brands and how they can emerge stronger from the crisis. Watch the Luxury session<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We heard from a wide range of luxury leaders on how COVID-19 has accelerated change in the industry, including Salesforce expert, Pamela Wolf, and leading luxury watchmaker, Breitling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Luxury finds its own way to go digital<\/b><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

While some luxury brands were actively introducing new digital experiences pre-pandemic, others felt that an online presence might undermine their brand values of timelessness, tradition, and attentive, one-to-one service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, lockdowns and social distancing have forced more luxury brands to explore ways in which they can engage with digital while preserving that sense of elegance and scarcity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s happening in a lot of ways, from offering VR tours of stores accompanied by a virtual personal shopper to live-streaming fashion shows that were once exclusive invitation-only events for select buyers and journalists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Changing business models: from B2B to D2C<\/b><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

As more of the luxury world goes online, it creates opportunities to engage with new audiences. Many high-end brands are used to operating on a business-to-business (B2B) basis; selling not to the end-buyer of their products, but to the stores that host their collections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now that the footfall for physical stores has dropped off the graph, a new acronym \u2014 D2C, or direct-to-consumer \u2014 is sweeping the luxury sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Selling directly to shoppers means developing new, digital approaches to sales and marketing. <\/p>\n\n\n

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We\u2019re talking about things like personalised omnichannel journeys, tailored content and personalised products, live chat, video chat with lots of video support and personalised customer care.<\/p>\nPamela Wolf<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n