Post pandemic, Luxury Brands have made tremendous strides to offer customers an omnichannel luxury experience, balancing VIP high-touch service with the needs of tech-savvy Gen Z luxury shoppers. The shift to omnichannel customer experiences has urged the quintessentially physical luxury shopping destination, the luxury mall to evolve into a "phygital" space that harmonizes physical and digital elements. In fact, the luxury shopping mall is uniquely poised to leverage the omnichannel mindset to offer customers a uber convenient customer experience that can trump any other. By using technology to offer value added services and incorporating e-commerce to offer a unified shopping experience across brands, Malls can capture luxury customers that value experience as well as time.
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Let’s imagine an ideal luxury mall shopping experience through the journey of Sara, a young professional in Dubai, who plans her ideal Saturday with the help of her favorite luxury mall, The Magnus.
Here are the touchpoints and services Sara interacts with before, during and after her shopping experience :
The mall app: Sara opens the Magnus Mall app to fit in a salon visit, find shoes for work, meet her friends, and entertain an aunt visiting from abroad.
Personalised offers: Upon opening the app, Sara receives updates like an offer from her usual salon and promptly books an appointment.
Exclusive invites: As a Magnus Mall member, she also receives an invite to a beauty masterclass by a renowned beauty brand and reserves two spots for her aunt as well.
Shops online: To save time, Sara browses all the shoe stores on the app
Virtual consultation – she requests a live consult with a sales advisor, and sets aside a few pairs to try on in-store.
Concierge chat: Sara searches for a new lunch spot and uses the Concierge Chat to make a reservation, which she shares with her friends with a single click.
Parking finder: On Saturday morning, she checks the app for parking availability
Notifications: Sara sees reminders for her salon, lunch, and masterclass, along with notifications about the shoes she set aside
Interactive map: Entering the mall through a new entrance, Sara uses the app’s interactive map to navigate to the salon on time.
Home delivery: After her salon visit, Sara tries on the shoes and makes a purchase, requesting delivery so she can shop hands-free.
Find your car: After lunch and the masterclass she uses the app’s "Find Your Car" feature to locate her vehicle with ease, making it a seamless end to her day.
Customer Feedback: At home, Sara receives prompts from the app to provide feedback about her experience
Prompts: Some weeks later she receives a reminder to visit the salon again and intimiation about the new personal styling studio
In this scenario, Sara can plan her day with ease with the mall's dedicated application, but also has access to hi touch services like a virtual consult, concierge and home delivery.
This scenario may sound far fetched, but several luxury malls around the world are innovating to make it a reality. The Dubai Mall app offers parking assistance, from finding a spot to locating your car or booking valet services. Mall of the Emirates and Dubai Mall also support e-commerce for various brands, allowing online shopping across luxury stores. Westfield in UK provides real-time updates on promotions, product availability, and events personalized to each customer, along with interactive maps for easy navigation. Westfield’s Click & Collect service, Dubai Hills bag storage, and Dubai Malls same-day delivery enable hands-free shopping. Luxury malls are adding new, unique services to meet the high expectations of their clientele. Bergdorf Goodman offers a 24-hour concierge service to handle travel bookings and theater reservations for select clients. Saks Fifth Avenue features a "power lunch" package for rapid wardrobe styling and makeup applications within an hour, while their "Saks Save Me" service resolves fashion emergencies within 24 hours. Today, exclusive members can even enjoy personalized shopping experiences in person or virtually.
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Conclusion:Â
The luxury mall of the future is a hybrid of physical elegance, hi touch human support and digital convenience. As omnichannel shopping experiences redefine luxury retail, malls worldwide are creating phygital environments to keep pace with the expectations of today’s luxury consumers. This blend of personalized, hands-free shopping and innovative digital services is shaping the next chapter of luxury retail. The omnichannel luxury mall experience is no longer just a trend—it’s here to stay, offering a seamless, enriched experience that captivates a new generation of luxury shoppers.
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