Insights for luxury retailers to reach customers globally

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to investigate whether customer intention to purchase luxury products from the online stores of fashion luxury retailers varies depending on their degree of corporate image and showrooming strategy, when the retailers do not have a wider store network in the region where customers live. Design/methodology/approach – Two scenario-based, between-subject experimental studies were conducted to test the hypotheses. Findings – Findings showed that both building corporate image and showrooms are effective in enhancing customer intention to purchase from online stores, without widely increasing the number of stores; however, building corporate image is more useful to high corporate-image retailers and showrooms are more appealing to low corporate-image retailers. Practical implications – The findings are useful to fashion luxury retailers, particularly those based in Western countries who seek to target customers in other regions, particularly those in developing countries. Originality/value – This study contributes to the literature on online fashion luxury consumption and multichannel retailing.