Why Luxury Retailers Need Appointment Scheduling

Luxury retailers can improve sales and customer experience by deploying appointment scheduling across their stores.

Trying on designer dresses at home isn’t quite the same. Although the pandemic witnessed a huge rise in online retail traffic, luxury shoppers are keen to return to physical stores. They want to feel the quality fabrics, ensure the ideal fit and enjoy an impeccable customer experience. But, they also want to remain safe. As winter approaches, retailers can enhance the safety and allure of their in-store experience by implementing appointment scheduling.

Luxury stores, luxury service

Luxury consumers appreciate the finer things in life. So, it’s no surprise that appointment scheduling with retailers is becoming increasingly popular. 76% of customers want to book at least one type of appointment with luxury retailers. Most wish to reserve a slot for in-store services (35%), followed by the ability to schedule store visits (30%) and book virtual services by phone or video (27%).

Join the exclusive club

From scheduling exclusive fittings with a glass of champagne to booking a personal store assistant as you peruse the shop floor, the pandemic has increased demand for appointment scheduling’s exclusivity benefits. 43% of shoppers say they would be more likely to schedule an appointment compared to before the pandemic. For almost a third (32%) of consumers, safety reasons underpin this desire for in-store retail choreography. Consumers are almost equally as interested in saving time (29%) and organizing their day better (24%). This suggests the appeal of appointments will last long into the future.

Stand out from the crowd

Whether your clients prefer heritage watches or dazzling heels, luxury consumers place value on standing out from the crowd. Appointment scheduling enables luxury retailers to follow suit and reap the loyalty and revenue rewards. Shoppers said appointment services enhanced their experience with the brand (28%) and led them to choose the brand over its competitors (25%).

What appointment services should luxury retailers deploy?

To start driving appointment traffic, luxury brands don’t need to move the earth. It’s simply about equipping stores with the right software. They can enable appointment scheduling from their website and train in-store personnel to carry out appointment requests. In fact, we asked consumers what type of appointments they’d like to book and the three most popular methods involved methods that most retailers already have in place. These were by calling the store (30%), through the company’s website (27%) and via in-store assistants (20%).

Our 2020 survey revealed the types of appointment services that different demographics of luxury consumers want at their disposal:

• 45% of Millennial and GenZ luxury customers want to book virtual appointments compared to 31% of baby boomers.
• 15% of Millennial and GenZ luxury customers want to use virtual queuing systems in-store compared to 10% of baby boomers.
• 15% of Millennial and GenZ luxury customers want to check-in from their phones and collect online orders from the curbside or storefront compared to 6% of baby boomers.

Book an appointment with Verint

To drive appointment traffic to your stores and boost customer sales, experience, loyalty and advocacy, schedule an appointment with Verint to find out more.