In an article originally written for Retail Week, Martin Newman complains that he does not receive the same level of luxury service when purchasing an expensive Balenciaga handbag online as he would in the store. To be clear, Mr. Newman purchased the bag through fashion etailer Matches Fashion, which guaranteed him next-day delivery within a three-hour window. Mr. Newman wanted the handbag to be delivered within a one-hour window and felt he should be accommodated considering the price he was paying for the handbag. (I’m not sure who quickly he’d have received the bag if he’d purchased it at www.balenciaga.com directly.)
What are your thoughts? Do you feel you receive better service from a luxury brand when you visit the physical store than when you buy online? Please add your comments below.
Well, I’d certainly prefer the rapidity of delivery as opposed to a slower “luxury service,” from the company itself. I’d much rather get the handbag asap so I could begin enjoying it.
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Victoria, you missed the point. The point was about flexibility and why I needed it delivered within a 1 hour window. The general delivery service level of 3 hrs was good, but the inflexibility was not.
Martin
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Martin, what I took away from your great article was that the flexibility you were looking for translated into customer service. You began your article by saying “Luxury retailers don’t apply the same standards of service online as they do in their stores…” I took that as a jumping off point to see what others thought about this and how service expectations might shift from in-store to online. Thanks for your clarification.
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