Of the innumerable fashion and retail companies stepping up their online presence in light of ongoing social distancing measures, Gucci announces its all-new personalized video shopping feature, in effort to recreate the brand’s highly crucial and revered in-store experience.
Dubbed ‘Gucci Live’, the video service connects store staff with consumers via both mobile devices and online computers. Operating out of a dedicated set in a 2,300-square-metre Florence service center, black-tux-bow-tie-and-red-gloves-clad employees warmly welcome customers to modern day remote clienteling.
Deeming the platform the first of its kind, Gucci acknowledges how regular e-commerce remains far from ever replacing the in-store experience, and thus with this advancement the brand aims to further boost sales whilst upholding the immaculate standards of personal service, often associated with luxury.
“The mission of our Gucci 9 global service centre is to provide our customers around the world with a direct connection to the Gucci community that is a seamless, always accessible, personalised experience. The service is delivered according to the values that define and differentiate our brand today: a human touch powered by technology.” – Gucci President and Ceo, Marco Bizzarri.
Having proven to be a success thus far during its testing phase, the online video service will be available across Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) regions, upon its official launch, before expanding worldwide to cities such as New York, Tokyo, Singapore, Sydney, Shanghai, and Florence.
As of now, Gucci Live boasts not only a dedicated set that operates independently of the store but the ability for online shoppers to have built-in access to personal video calls – designed to feel similar to that of an in-person visit, incorporating one-to-one interaction with a real person showing physical products. To protect the privacy of all potential clients and ensure their comfort, the brand has also noted that despite the feature being a video call, customers are only heard by staff and not seen.
With the help of a specialised sales assistant, Gucci also intends to ease the process of purchase, offering an alternative option to standard online check-outs, through utilizing third-party platforms such as WhatsApp.
Conveying future plans of incorporating augmented and virtual reality, computer vision to analyse facial expression, additional virtual assistants and live chats, Gucci vows to work toward achieving an overall humanistic approach, whilst leveraging technology to augment human skills and decrease friction, uncertainty and anxiety.
