Want To Optimize Your Luxury Ecommerce Site? (Emotions Are Key)

If you sell luxury goods or services, you know it isn’t the same as selling low-end or middle-of-the-ground alternatives. Getting high-end offers to convert requires a more custom approach.

For example, you wouldn’t offer a Lamborghini the same way you’d offer a Ford. Customers who purchase each of these types of cars have different reasons for doing so and different expectations for what their ownership experiences will be like.

And so it goes with a luxury ecommerce website. Some design and UX best-practices don’t vary all that much from lower-end sites, but notable differences do also exist.

“Creating a luxury feel in a pixel-based universe still has many brands and retailers scratching their heads,” however, notes Melissa Puleo. So if you want to learn more about how to optimize your luxury ecommerce website, check out the advice below.

Understand Your Customers’ Emotional Triggers

Emotions and desire drive luxury purchases much more so than necessity and practicality. In fact, when it comes to luxury goods, “their value is qualitative, because a luxury product is more than the product itself. It’s the brand value, the status it provides, the rarity, and the feeling it gives the buyer,” says Raphael Paulin-Daigle.

And so, you need to appeal to customers’ emotional triggers, as opposed to logic, if you want to get them to pull the trigger and make a purchase.

So how do you accomplish this?

…Through surveys and interviews.

While this process may be time-consuming, it’s well worth it to gain a better understanding of your customers’ needs and wants and their decision-making process.

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Customers probaly won’t come right out and say, “This [insert emotion] is what compelled me to purchase.” Or “I bought this item because I wanted to feel [insert emotion].” But if you ask questions from a variety of angles, you can usually tease the emotional triggers out if you focus on the conversational nuances.

Communicate Emotions Through Your Descriptions & Images

You don’t need to go overboard with UX design innovations just because you’re dealing with high-end goods. In fact, doing so is actually frowned upon.

All ecommerce sites, from high- to low-end, should follow basic design and usability principles, such as clear navigation, speedy loading times, and mobile friendliness.

But two design elements that owners of luxury ecommerce sites need to be especially particular about are the images and product descriptions, both of which should be highly emotive.

Your Images

Customers have higher expectations when it comes to luxury goods and services. And so, the images you include need to show details.

For example, if you sell jewelry, customers want to see, up close, what the gems and rhinestones look like; they want to see the sparkle and shine. Moreover, they want to see what the jewelry looks like on a model. This helps convey a clearer picture of the item’s size.

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But more than just detail, your images should evoke an emotional response. Once you figure out what your customers want to get from using your products or services (fun, excitement, relaxation), display images that communicate those feelings.

Your Descriptions

The same thing goes for your product descriptions.

Don’t describe your products using only bland, technical details. That information is important. But you should also describe your offers in terms of how they enhance your customers’ lives and all of the skill and value that goes into creating them.

For instance, “for fashion and jewelry, a store clerk would likely give you advice on how to wear the item, how to style it, give you advice on the fit and how it’s made,” says Paulin-Daigle.

You also want to address as many of your customers’ questions as you can in your descriptions. This includes questions pertaining to size and fit (if you sell apparel), where your products were made, how to properly care for them, and so on.

Does your ecommerce business sell luxury items? What did you think of these tips? What other advice can you share?