Luxury hotels adopting mobile tools within browsersLuxury hotels adopting mobile tools within browsers

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The luxury hotel experience is going digital, which includes providing key tools to guests within the hotel's mobile site, according to L2.

This includes things like ordering room service and keyless entry all on the site's own browser. And the number of hotels adopting these tools has increased greatly even in the first quarter of the year compared to 2015.

  • 54% of luxury hotels now offer guest reviews on their mobile site, up from 39% in 2015.
  • 34% now let guests reserve in-hotel activities on their mobile site, up from 15% in 2015.
  • 20% offer mobile check-in, up from 15% in 2015.

This rapid adoption of digital tools is likely driven by the shift to mobile for many travelers. In fact, it is estimated that mobile will make up over half of all digital bookings in the US this year, according to data from eMarketer. And this share is forecasted to jump to almost 70% by 2019. As travelers shift to mobile device for their booking needs, travel brands should also focus on keeping them engaged during their trip as well.

One such option is to partner with another third-party service or app to create an overall experiential platform. For example, Uber recently launched trip branding and personalization, with Hilton as one of its initial partners. The tool lets guests staying at the Hilton book rides back to their hotel with Uber with a one-click button in the hotel chain's app.

By offering these tools, hotels and travel brands can help make a traveler's journey as seamless as possible, and thus garner customer loyalty and support.

Luxury shoppers are highly coveted customers for brands and retailers, so it would behoove companies to provide a positive customer service experience in order to strengthen brand loyalty. The top 10% of U.S. household earners (those taking home $120,000 or more annually) account for approximately half of all consumer expenditures.

This demographic’s growing preference for online shopping is changing the face of luxury retail, and it has significant implications for how brands target luxury consumers.

Cooper Smith, senior research analyst for BI Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service, has compiled a detailed report on luxury e-commerce that profiles the luxury shopper and takes a close look at the spending habits and preferences of high-income earners — including how and where they shop.

Luxury E-Commerce Report CoverBI Intelligence

Here are some of the key takeaways from the report:

  • Discretionary spending among the wealthy is growing faster than for the average US consumer. Discretionary spending among those earning $120,000 a year or more is expected to increase 6.6% in 2016, reaching $406 billion, according to YouGov. Among the top 1%, it's expected to rise 10%. By contrast, discretionary spending for the average US consumer dropped 1% between 2014 and 2015.
  • Wealthy consumers are expected to spend the most next year on fashion, travel, and dining. Among these categories, spending on fashion (specifically, apparel, accessories, and handbags) will grow the most, increasing 6.9% to $37.4 billion (roughly 9% of total discretionary spending).
  • Luxury brands are over-allocating ad spend to print media. The seven largest US luxury brands collectively spent $133 million last year on holiday ad spending, 57% of which was allocated to magazine ads, according to the Shullman Research Center. But among luxury shoppers, recall rates are higher for digital ads.
  • There are signs that luxury shopping is less brand- and status-oriented than it once was. Luxury shoppers, like the average consumer, enjoy the convenience and low prices of online retailers like Amazon vs. shopping via official brand sites. Luxury shopping may become even more price-sensitive as millennials age.

In full, the report:

  • Sizes the market for personal luxury goods, by country.
  • Measures the effectiveness of luxury marketing channels.
  • Breaks down ad spend among luxury brands.
  • Identifies where luxury consumers shop online and in-store.

To get your copy of this invaluable guide, choose one of these options:

  1. Subscribe to an ALL-ACCESS Membership with BI Intelligence and gain immediate access to this report AND over 100 other expertly researched deep-dive reports, subscriptions to all of our daily newsletters, and much more. >> START A MEMBERSHIP
  2. Purchase the report and download it immediately from our research store. >> BUY THE REPORT

The choice is yours. But however you decide to acquire this report, you’ve given yourself a powerful advantage in your understanding of luxury e-commerce.