Luxury brands must embrace digital strategies, industry summit told

Luxury retailers are the last bastion against the surge of e-commerce, thanks to the assumption that going digital dilutes the DNA of a high-end brand. However, experts say firms that do not adopt an online outlook risk losing out altogether on converting the new digital generation into big-spending customers.

"You can't avoid it," David Au, managing director for Fung Retail Group, which owns prestige menswear brands Gieves & Hawkes and Kent & Curwen, told a panel discussion yesterday of industry insiders at the South China Morning Post's inaugural Luxury Summit in referring to the digital revolution and social media. "Even though you don't control the dialogue on the social media, consumers will talk about it anyway, so it's better that you be involved and engage with the consumer and manage that conversation."

Simon Tye, a luxury analyst for research firm Ipsos said: "Whether we like it or not, our consumer is talking about us. It's a thing of power and you have to be a part of that conversation or else you'll no longer be connecting."

Public relations firm Prestique's founder Esther Ma said brands would be alerted to digital missteps that alienate customers.

"I think the beauty of the internet is that it's real time and the turnaround is so fast. If your clients see it and don't like it, you get the feedback immediately," she said.

This is particularly so when it comes to customers on the mainland, where traditional media has not been strong and enormous wealth is held at a younger age, digital plays an important role.