NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwire - Sep 11, 2012) - Wealthy shoppers with minimum annual income of $150,000 rate the online experience at websites of 10 traditional luxury retailers and 16 online-only retailers in the 2012 Luxury Online Experience Index (LOEI) survey by the independent and objective New York-based Luxury Institute. LOEI scores include evaluations of a site's navigation, visual appeal, selection of products, ability to deliver product feature information, ease of purchase, availability of human help and trustworthiness to keep personal data.
It appears that upstarts have made quick inroads. One-year old men's luxury site, MR PORTER, earns the highest score (86) of all retailers, online and traditional, followed by fashion site SSense (85) and My-Wardrobe and Shopbop (both 84). NET-A-PORTER and Zappos Couture earn scores of 83 and 82, respectively.
Barneys New York earns the highest LOEI score (84) among luxury retailers that also operate physical stores, followed by Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, Intermix and Scoop all with 82.
Nordstrom is the brand most likely to be recommended (92%) and the site that most wealthy shoppers plan to return to for their next online shopping experience. Among online-only sites, Zappos is the most recommended (88%) and eBay Fashion Vault (95%) enjoys the highest rate of return visits.
"Online luxury retail proves that smaller and newer brands can shake up incumbents with the right technology, product mix and site design," says Luxury Institute CEO Milton Pedraza. "The proliferation of web and mobile shopping truly creates opportunity."
Respondents reported average income of $310,000 and average net worth of $3.6 million.
About the Luxury Institute (www.LuxuryInstitute.com)
The Luxury Institute is the uniquely independent and impartial ratings, research and Luxury CRM consulting institution that is the trusted and respected voice of the high net-worth consumer. The Institute provides a portfolio of proprietary publications, research and consulting services that guide and educate high net-worth individuals and the companies that cater to them on leading edge trends, high net-worth consumer rankings and ratings of luxury brands, and best practices. The Luxury Institute also operates LuxuryBoard.com, the world's first global, membership-based online community for luxury goods and services executives, professionals and entrepreneurs.
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For Further Information, Please Contact:
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Martin Swanson
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mswanson@luxuryinstitute.com