OMMA’s Industry Watch: Another Kind of Rich Media
Excerpt:
Simulating In-Store
Of course, matching the upscale retail store experience to the online one is also a challenge for luxury names in the beauty and fashion world, such as Giorgio Armani. Last fall, the brand launched a new cosmetics site, www.giorgioarmanibeauty.com, which offers consumers the opportunity to browse and buy products that are only available at 30 counters in the U.S. Since 2001, consumers could find information on the Giorgio brand in a separate section on www.giorgioarmani.com, but were unable to purchase products. "The time was right in terms of consumer readiness to now expand that site to e-commerce," says Ava Huang, vice president of marketing for Armani Cosmetics & Perfumes. "The wide acceptance of e-commerce across all categories has been embraced by the beauty consumer as well, who expects to purchase his or her favorite products online."
ID Society, a New York-based Internet marketing and Web design agency, was charged with creating giorgioarmanibeauty.com, which uses the same design aesthetics as the other Armani-branded sites. "The real challenge was creating a luxurious shopping experience with strong Armani customer service in an e-commerce site that doesn’t detract from the elegance," says Adam Berkowitz, CEO of ID Society. "The overall Armani brand attributes of ‘minimal’ and ‘modern’ led us to the overarching design aesthetic. Using simple accents and a healthy dose of air and spacing, the site evokes luxury quietly."
Unique to the site, and a first for Armani, is the Beauty Bar, which simulates the in-store counter experience for online shoppers, who can view all beauty products lined up next to each other. The screen seems to scroll through the products, which are illuminated once a visitor rolls over an item. ID Society also created an Armani Advisor section, where celebrity face designer Tim Quinn provides lessons on how to apply four various looks with direct access to purchase the products.
Since luxury consumers are accustomed to personalized treatment and service, a Register section on the site provides perks to loyal customers. In addition to free shipping and exclusive offers (such as special limited edition samples), customers can locate a record of their past purchases.
"More luxury brands are creating these programs not only to offer more personalized service, but also to make the consumer feel special, like they are aspiring to the luxury image portrayed by the brand," says Berkowitz. "Brand teams also want the consumer to feel so special that they will recommend the products and Web site to other friends, therefore becoming true evangelists for the brand."