The Rise of Influencer Marketing for Luxury Brands

While brands have long used social media influencers to increase the visibility of their products and services, increase brand authenticity, and generate sales, many luxury brands have resisted leaning on influencers until recently. Every industry was changed by the onset of COVID-19, but few were as impacted as the luxury industry. The cornerstone of many luxury brands is their exceptional and personal customer service, but when stores were forced to close, that competitive edge was put on pause. 

But the pandemic hasn’t been all bad for the luxury industry. It’s pushed brands to experiment and find new ways to reach Marine Perrot of L'Oréal Luxe tells all about influencer marketing for luxury brandscustomers, with many investing more in their influencer strategies. But, there’s an art to using influencer marketing for luxury brands, says Marine Perrot, E-Retail & Digital Manager for L’Oréal Luxe.

Joël Gaudeul, Chief Marketing Officer at micro-influencer marketing and customer advocacy company, Hivency, sat down with Marine Perrot to learn more about how the leading luxury cosmetics retailer is approaching its influencer strategy differently this year and what advice she has for other companies looking to explore influencer marketing for luxury brands.

Here’s what she had to share on how L’Oréal Luxe is leveraging influencer marketing for luxury brands: 

 

Joël Gaudeul: What impact do you think social networks have on luxury shopping?

Marine Perrot: Even though it’s not the biggest way of selling luxury products just yet, social media is becoming an increasingly significant traffic driver. The digital acceleration over the last few months is encouraging many brands to move toward integrating an influencer strategy into the core of their online approach. We used to be happy enough with a basic level of influence, but today’s brands are reinventing themselves to find influence mechanisms that sell. In addition to thinking about ways to improve their retail store, luxury brands need to think about new and shifting playing fields, like affiliates and influencer partners such as Lucette by Hivency that can help them design their strategies. Don’t be afraid to act quickly. Always test new things – you must always be learning!

 

JG: Nano-influencers are gaining ground in the luxury sector. How can brands incorporate it into their existing strategies?

MP: Brands should look at influence as a pyramid, with every level just as important as the next. A luxury brand needs to keep working with top influencers because they help boost its image. Nano, or even micro-influence, compliment this strategy while also localizing a brand’s message and even adding a layer of extra authenticity. Brand-influencer relationships are also symbiotic. They often become stronger because a brand can help influencers’ reputation and vice-versa. It’s a balancing act and no one should be overlooked. 

 

JG: What are your marketing concerns when it comes to consumer reviews?

MP: A product page without reviews doesn’t inspire customer confidence. It’s important to be authentic and mindful of your brand image by being sincere. Lucette by Hivency is ground-breaking because it lets us connect with a community of beauty lovers who share audio and video cosmetic reviews. It’s a super innovative solution that allows us to increase the number of quality and genuine product reviews on our site. What could be better than an audio or video review: a tester who talks to you like a friend?

How Exceptional Customer Service Helps Luxury Brands Stand Out

A digital earthquake has been felt in the luxury goods industry, and its impact is indisputable. There’s a host of new opportunities available to brands: new user behavior, product innovations, and particularly, exceptional and innovative customer services. As Cécile Robin, Head of eCommerce EMEA at Shiseido, explains that the luxury market’s cornerstones are its services.

Cécile Robin, Head of eCommerce EMEA at Shiseido

With expertise both in marketing and sales, Cécile Robin began her career in supermarket distribution at French retail company Carrefour, before turning to luxury. With 15 years of experience, including eight years in eCommerce at Sephora, Cécile is now the Head of eCommerce at Shiseido. She is in charge of business development for the group’s eCommerce sites across EMEA and works on eCommerce acceleration for the Shiseido Group.

Here’s what she has to share about how luxury brands can bring their history of exceptional customer experience online:

 

The Shiseido Group launched its European eCommerce site in October 2019. How did the launch go?

We launched six Shiseido-branded eCommerce sites in late 2019 (France, UK, Germany, Italy, Spain, and Benelux).

The crisis we’ve been going through since the beginning of the year has been a major accelerator for eCommerce. In April, we outperformed the sales figures for the entire first quarter! As with any site launch, we keep it in an “incubator” to analyze our customer journey, spot potential friction points, and find out about performance. So, we accelerated the process and developments, and now it’s a success story that we are closely monitoring because, in these unprecedented times, the rules are changing every day.

 

What was the aim?

Shiseido is the group’s eponymous brand! So, it was only natural that we wanted a premium, distinctive communication channel with our customers. It was a vital cornerstone in our regional eCommerce strategy. We have a clear desire to increase our digital footprint, and with this in mind, we don’t see our sites as a simple sales channel but as a window display for the brand. We aim to showcase our products, with as wide a range as possible and exclusive products, to promote our brand DNA and, of course, to offer distinctive, quality content.

 

So, it’s like a flagship store, but online?

Exactly. That’s our eCommerce sites’ mission. We have our products on show, but much more on top of that: previews, services, and very specific offers.

 

What’s changing online in luxury this year?

It is the development of decision support tools, without a doubt. This technology isn’t that new, but the crisis has accelerated its rise. With the situation we’re going through now, we can’t just try out a lipstick or foundation tester like we used to. How can brands help with this? How can we support our customers and reassure them that they’re making the right choices?

We can see an apparent increase in the use and development of decision support tools by luxury brands. Take the virtual try-on tool, for example, which is very quickly becoming more and more widely used. 

 

What tools do you have to teach customers more about your products?

We’ve prioritized many developments to meet our customers’ expectations of our different brands: the virtual try-on I mentioned is one of them; we have our solution, but we’re also working on online skincare diagnosis and virtual beauty consultations. You can now book a beauty appointment via Zoom. Through this online consultation tool, advisers can help our customers find the product best suited to their beauty needs. The fundamental issue is how to remain close to our clients (while still physically distanced from them), how to listen to them, and how to surprise them, wherever they may be. 

Taking that support we offer in-store and reproducing it online is crucial for the luxury industry.

 

Is exceptional customer service the key to luxury brands offering a unique experience?

Of course, that’s undoubtedly one of the critical points. To offer exceptional customer service that helps us stand out, we need to provide a frictionless experience throughout the journey, minimizing any frustration or obstacles. Our service has to run smoothly from the first contact right through to home delivery (if the aim is to encourage a purchase). It’s also important to support customers in their decisions (e.g., access to information, finding products, and testing) and to anticipate their questions (through FAQ pages or proactive emails about delivery, for example). Customer service must be premium too, in line with our brands’ values, but it also has to be state-of-the-art, by offering interaction via chatbot or virtual agents, for example.

 

How do you see the luxury market in Europe changing?

I think we’re on our way to becoming much more socially responsible. This is a requirement we’ve identified from our consumers, who are increasingly considering brands’ environmental impact. One of the prominent examples is what we use in our packaging: tissue paper, stickers, colorful high-quality packaging, etc. 

Brands are going to have to rethink their products and everything associated with them. I think there’s a great story to be told here.

 

Have you already launched any new initiatives on this front?

Yes, that is central to the group’s priorities and is reflected at every level: for example, we have days when employees spend their time working for charities. This approach goes far beyond the products themselves.

As far as eCommerce is concerned, if we take a look at packaging again, we’ve stopped adding printouts to our parcels, so customers no longer receive a paper invoice or returns slip, for example. The challenge is to get our consumers to accept these changes, as our value proposition is still a unique experience. Similarly, while price remains by far the most important consideration for product delivery, the top three criteria also include speed and meeting delivery times. So, communication is critical if we want to take longer with delivery for less environmental impact.

 

Shiseido has historically been well-established in physical stores. Has digital transformation taken priority?

The digital maturity of the Group’s brands varies from one country to another, but digital in all its forms has become a priority throughout the value chain. From expertise to investment and throughout the whole organization, every area is embracing the digital revolution. That’s what will make a difference! Being part of an international group with a presence in several countries is an incredible learning and sharing source. We have regular discussions between the different regions and brands. We have access to a vast pool of knowledge. And then, of course, we can localize and adapt. It’s a fantastic asset.

 

The Era of Omnichannel eCommerce Experience Has Arrived

This year, eCommerce has proved itself irreplaceable to consumers. While customers first turned to online shopping as a necessity during the onset of the pandemic, their behaviors today tell us this eCommerce boom is anything but a short-lived trend. Still, while eCommerce has proved it’s here to stay, brands must keep customer experience and engagement a top priority in order to come out on top. 

At a time when the boundaries between online and offline are no longer so clear-cut, what omnichannel strategies should you put in place to speed up your digital transformation? We sat down with Kuider Akani, Global Chief Digital & eCommerce Officer at Yves Rocher, a worldwide botanical-based cosmetics and beauty brand, to hear his perspective on what role eCommerce should play in brands’ omnichannel strategy.

Headshot of Kuider Akani, Global Chief Digital & eCommerce Officer at Yves Rocher

About Kuider Akani

Kuider Akani is a digital and marketing expert with over 25 years of experience. Having worked for B2C brands in various sectors including retail banking (Société Générale), direct banking (ING Direct), online betting (PMU.fr), fashion retail marketplaces (Videdressing.com), and cosmetics, Kuider has had several successful digital business launches under his belt in competitive markets.

As Chief Digital & eCommerce Officer for the Yves Rocher brand, he leads the company’s digital transformation with a particular focus on developing eCommerce, improving the mobile-centric customer experience, and advancing media and social media strategies. He coordinates digital business in more than 30 markets across Europe, Asia, and America.

 

How do you incorporate Yves Rocher’s core values into your eCommerce strategy?

The Yves Rocher Group’s mission is to reconnect people with nature. As pioneers and inventors of botanical-based cosmetics, our role is to give back to nature what it has given to us. 

Historically, the Yves Rocher brand’s other distinguishing features are its knowledge of and proximity to the end-user.

Lastly, it’s an accessible brand. It has a range of quality products and services at affordable prices for every woman and has a widespread presence, with over 2,500 stores and 23 eCommerce sites worldwide.

Of course, this commitment is reflected in all of our eCommerce sites around the world. 

 

eCommerce has grown at an unprecedented rate this year. How have you captured this new influx of digital traffic?

Even though this situation was difficult to anticipate, we’ve been working for the past three years to put a fundamental eCommerce strategy in place to enable the brand to expand and to make eCommerce a major future driver of growth.

First, we’ve built one single eCommerce platform for the 23 sites we run worldwide. This means we can significantly improve the digital customer experience and go beyond mere sales efficiency. We can now benefit from a more solid foundation on which to build our future omnichannel experience.

It was also a matter of developing online customer journeys with a mobile-first logic, not only to be more efficient commercially but also to embody the brand DNA that is so inherent to Yves Rocher. Our sites will gradually become richer in content and services to reflect our mission: to reconnect people to nature.

We’ve also focused on our media and social media strategy to ensure it’s giving us a good return on our investment. Our active presence on the major social platforms means we can achieve a good performance level. The brand can now interact with our almost 13 million fans and followers on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.

Finally, we created teams of influential digital experts in all the different countries where we operate. These teams all rely on the same best-in-class technological solutions.

All of this groundwork has enabled the brand to be better-equipped than its competitors to take full advantage of this extraordinary time and the high growth of online business. However, we still have a lot of work to do to become the best.

 

What lessons can you draw from this for the future?

I have learned five major lessons from this time. The first is that consumer behavior has changed: some users have bought products and services online for the first time, and this behavior will, in part, continue. 

The second lesson is that there is enormous potential for eCommerce growth for the Yves Rocher brand.

In particular, this is based on the growth of the online cosmetics market that has continued to increase in significance over the past five years in all the countries where we have a presence. That, combined with the brand’s historic expertise in D2C.

Our websites have received massive increases in traffic, boosting conversion rates 2 or 3 times and growing online sales between 30% and 300%, depending on the country.

On the other hand, brands will have to quickly raise their game when it comes to delivery (e.g., delivery tracking, click & collect, and e-booking) and payment (e.g., wallet and guest checkout) to meet customer demand.

Lastly, the most ambitious eCommerce brands will have to learn to work with increasingly powerful external digital partners (social media platforms, marketplaces, and super apps) who have already preempted between 50% and 80% of the eCommerce market, depending on the region.

Asian platforms use native commerce and US players are starting to use transactional features that show that they’re not willing to give up the fight.

 

What are the biggest eCommerce challenges facing your brand today?

For the Yves Rocher brand, eCommerce is one of its largest growth levers. The brand currently distributes its range through four channels: eCommerce and social selling through ambassadors, stores, and the old-school channel of mail order.

When it comes to eCommerce, which represented 8% of brand sales in 2019, we think its share will double in 2020, and it has significant growth potential in the future.

To build up eCommerce, despite everything we’ve already done, we still have work to do in some areas of the customer experience. 

Mobile is a crucial aspect. There is a balance to be found between building a smooth customer journey and maintaining lots of features to implement transactional and omnichannel mobile applications in the future.

An enhanced digital customer experience should reflect the brand promise through enriched content.

In-depth work also needs to be done in payment and delivery areas, which are key to hitting the mark.

Lastly, we need to work on better digital integration at our points of sale. We’re currently testing a live stream video service in Sweden, which will enable a customer to connect to a beauty consultant and purchase products remotely. 

 

A photo of a customer video chatting with an Yves Rocher consultant for a remote product demo

A customer video chatting with an Yves Rocher consultant for a remote product demo

 

In your opinion, what is the optimal digital experience? 

More than anything, the optimal digital experience is a frictionless journey – from product research through to purchase –personalized according to consumer profile and behavior.

That said, the digital experience is constantly evolving! 

 

So, how will it evolve over the next few years?

The Yves Rocher customer experience hinges on several major principles. These include developing a mobile-centric and omnichannel experience, but also reflecting the brand promise throughout the customer journey (local roots, the richness and accessibility of the offer, generosity, and customer proximity).

Hyper-personalization of content and the journey is also crucial, as well as embodying the brand’s mission: to reconnect people to nature.

Yves Rocher's three-pronged approach to eCommerce: mobile-centric, omnichannel, and hyper-personalization 

Yves Rocher’s three-pronged approach to eCommerce: mobile-centric, omnichannel, and hyper-personalization

 

We’re going to highlight our expertise in botanicals-based cosmetics by displaying our products’ composition and formulation clearly and openly.  

Digital eco-design (reducing page weight, iterations, a test & learn approach before development, and limiting server calls) will be at the core of our strategy.

 

What advice would you give other brands looking to accelerate their own digital transformation?

Any eCommerce business must be based on solid cornerstones, which are as follows: a stable and scalable technical platform; a constantly-optimized customer experience enriched with features and content specific to the brand’s DNA; a user acquisition strategy guided by your brand’s value proposition for both new and existing customers; an enriched CRM that goes beyond conventional emails; an active presence on social platforms or marketplaces to reach and capture new audiences; a company culture driven by efficiency, innovation, and solution optimization; and, ongoing research into consumer insights through consolidated omnichannel data.

 

And looking further ahead?

As we’ve seen this year, the world as we know it can be disrupted at any time. We have to stay agile to be able to grow in extraordinary circumstances. 

We also need to remember that, to some extent, brands are in sole control of their digital customer experiences. 

While many European and American brands are developing their own eCommerce sites, it’s important to note that major eCommerce platforms are making their own rapid progress. For example, social media platforms are gradually adopting features that can lead to transactions and Amazon has already preempted 50% of eCommerce in this area.

In Asia, marketplaces such as Alibaba, Lazada, Shopee, and super apps like Wechat and Line already represent nearly 80% of Asian eCommerce, and they are looking to expand further.

Against this backdrop, brands will have to draw a fine line between a proprietary customer experience they control and a fluid customer experience managed by a third party.

A big challenge!