#AsiaeCommerceAwards 2021 spills: Swarovski's glowing success in embracing omnichannel

Like many other brands, Swarovski was pushed to adapt during the pandemic. It doubled down on its omnichannel presence by launching a "Click and Collect" function for consumers. It also introduced a virtual shopping experience to enable consumers to connect with one of its shop assistants for a real-time virtual tour of a physical store while they are browsing products online.

Consumers can browse various products, get close-ups and direct the camera wherever they want it to go from the comfort of their own homes. These efforts earned it a silver in Best in eCommerce (Brands) – Fashion and Apparel and landed it a finalist spot in the Best eCommerce Loyalty Programme category at MARKETING-INTERACTIVE's Asia eCommerce Awards 2021. Ray Tsang, eCommerce onsite manager, Swarovski shares how it adapted to the dip in tourist travel and how it doubled down on omnichannel.

This interview is done as part of MARKETING-INTERACTIVE’s winners and finalists’ interview series for Asia eCommerce Awards 2021. To find out more about the awards, click here.

What have the past two years been like for you given the sudden pivot to eCommerce?

Tsang: With the COVID-19 pandemic hitting us close to home in our market, the importance of driving eCommerce offerings became important. This led us to have an omnichannel mindset at the heart of our marketing planning efforts, ensuring that we have consistent offerings. As there was a drop in tourist travel in the country, we had an even stronger need to rely on our home-based members and tweaking the content and frequency of members communication to optimise the effectiveness of our send-outs became a big focus for us.

What was one challenge that took you by surprise and how did you pivot?

Tsang: Having omnichannel offerings was a concern for our brick and mortar store staff as they saw the opening for customers to purchase online instead of in our physical stores. We have since launched "Click and Collect" which allows customers to shop online and pick up in-store, not only securing sales the fast-track way but also allowing our staff to continue the interaction with customers in our stores. We have also launched new online services such as the virtual assistant on Swarovski.com which has also allowed us to cater to online customers whilst redirecting them into our stores.

With markets opening up, what are some trends do you have your eyes on?

Tsang: We are excited to continue with this omnichannel approach in everything we do and ensure we find the balance from continuing to win over local customers to embracing welcoming tourists back into our stores again. We also endeavour to trial new experiences by working with local partners in live-selling to reach an established online base. With more over-arching tactical offerings tailored in line with the new brand positioning, we believe these will allow us to embrace these trends.

What do you think makes for great marketing these days?

Tsang: Leading marketing initiatives need to ensure both brand and customer expectations are met through "always-on" members-centric offerings to elevate brand experience and money can’t buy experiences. As well as having a "Live"’ mode of seasonal planning to cater for local market adjustments and tastes gives us a greater flexibility to react and a higher result at the end.

How do you feel about your win?

Tsang: Teamwork! It’s the route that we as a team can journey towards one integrated organisation, the journey towards becoming One Swarovski – allowing us to continue to ignite the dreams of millions of customers all around the world.