Google eases the internal search of several sites

A new feature has been offered for certain keywords queried  in Google. Searching for "Wikipedia", one of our co-workers noticed that Google proposed searching within the site directly from the results page:

Google makes the feature site:domainname much more accessible, very practical but probably little known by the general public, which already allows Internet users to make searches within a specific domain name.

Is Google going to universalize the use of this function? What will the impact be for the concerned sites? We will be following this closely, as some of our customers are in this situation.

Is this the case for you website? What was the impact on your e-metrics?  We would love to hear from you!

Luxury, the Internet and the Buying Process

Recently, the Journal du Net published the results of a study led by Benchmark Group concerning the process of purchasing luxury goods online. What is the Web position in this process? Among the services available on luxury sites, which are the most appreciated? What products are bought online?  These are just some of the questions researched.

Altogether, the results are hardly surprising, confirming what common sense suggests:

• The main advantage of an online purchase is the practicality (I buy when I want)
• The main reason for not completing an online purchase is the impossibility to feel the product
• Luxury sites need to display pricing and complete products characteristics

On the other hand, this study highlights some tendencies that might have been underestimated until now. We learn that:

• Only 15 % of people never search the Internet for information before making a luxury purchase.
• Newsletter and Club subscriptions are more often motivated by the will to receive promotional offers or to participate in a private sale than by the desire to receive personalized advice.
• Finally, the study reveals that clothing (including shoes and accessories) is by far the most popular category for men and women regarding online luxury purchases.

Globally, this study confirms that the future of luxury brands is deeply linked to the Internet. Whether being used as a direct sales channel (e-commerce site) or to redirect visitors to the boutiques, the web is inescapably becoming part of luxury brand strategies.

The complete results from the Journal du Net are available here.

Boucheron and e-commerce

In a interview published today by the Journal du Net, Jean-Christophe Bédos, CEO of Boucheron, revisits the past 6 months of their new e-commerce site, which was launched last September.

Even though the site’s performance is satisfying in terms of revenue, sales income isn’t its prime objective:  Mr. Bédos considers it primarily to be a means to generate traffic to the boutiques and to offer additional online services to costumers.  Still, the site registered an increase in visitors of over 400% since its creation.

Although he voluntarily admits that he wasn’t expecting to embark on an e-commerce adventure when accepting his new role, these results gave way to new aspirations.  For the actual site, for which a new version will be launched within days, an e-commerce site dedicated to the American market should appear in the course of this year.  Eventually, Japan will also be served with its own virtual Boucheron boutique.

Beyond Boucheron, Mr. Bédos’ vision concerning the luxury goods market on the Internet is extremely compelling.  As he ties the rise of e-commerce with the improvement of security and logistics, he suggests the rise of luxury e-commerce is in part due to a sociological evolution; as 10 years ago companies were predicting the Internet would be the death of the brand, a completely different scenario has been playing out as the Internet “has amplified the impact of brands on consumers, mostly because of e-commerce”.

For Mr. Bédos, this first e-commerce site confirms that brick-and-mortar boutiques and virtual boutiques are complementary, not substitutive.    Hence, the e-commerce site welcomes visitors (even buyers!) that would not have otherwise passed through the doors of a “real” boutique, a phenomenon that Mr. Bédos calls the “phobie de pas de porte”.  However, this does not keep actual boutique customers from visiting the e-commerce site for additional information.

The luxury industry has immense e-commerce growth potential.  After Boucheron and Bedat & C°, other brands are sure to follow.  In a virtual world that rids consumers of physical contact with the products, the power of a brand will have an even larger role to play.