Top 10 luxury branded mobile sites of Q1

Best mobile sites of Q1

As an alternative from a branded application, some marketers prefer to add an optimized site to round out their mobile strategy because it is cross-platform and is a no-brainer way for brands to literally be at customers’ fingertips.

In the first quarter of 2011, there was a surge of mobile-optimized sites. Whether they were launched for the first time or revamped to drive online or in-store traffic, luxury brands have begun to feel out another realm of the mobile presence aside from applications.

Luxury Daily’s measured these listed mobile sites for user-friendliness, aesthetics that convey the brand’s values, commerce-enabled when applicable and their ability to drive traffic to other channels.

Here are a list of the best of the best, in alphabetical order.

Bloomingdale’s – The department store chain’s mobile site is colorful, functional and simple. Users can choose whether to shop online, view current offers and look up nearby stores and events.

Consumers can opt-in for Bloomingdale’s emails as well as visit the retailer’s Twitter and Facebook pages.

There is a search bar for easy navigation and the site is commerce-enabled for on-the-go luxury customers.

Consumers can easily shop by trend, designer and other categories.

Bloomingdale’s gets extra points for driving users to its mobile site via QR codes found in out-of-home ads, print marketing and mailers.

BMW – German automaker BMW recently launched its international mobile site.

The site has large images and is packed with vehicle information, contact information, a dealer locator and downloads such as ringtones, wallpapers and videos.

Consumers who use BMW’s optimized site can see the brand’s latest Joy campaign where there are many images, social media functionality and product information.

Users who opt-in to receive BMW SMS notifications can see exclusive videos and pictures while exploring a BMW vehicles with their fingertips.

Chanel – The recently launched mobile-optimized site from French fashion house Chanel is quick, elegant and remains loyal to the brand’s voice.

Users can search through fragrance, makeup, Chanel news, fashion and accessories.

Chanel launches mobile-optimized Web site

Chanel’s makeup section is especially appealing, with its easy-to-navigate and classy features.

The optimized site has a black background with white letters, enabling its colorful product pictures to be the centerpieces of the pages.

Users can buy makeup and fragrance from the site. The individual product pages include instructions and tips for the products.

Consumers can use the mobile site to subscribe to email newsletters, locate stores, find special offers and contact the brand.

Fendi – The Italian brand’s mobile site is not only beautiful but user-friendly.

Fendi makes the most of its images by using large images from its most recent runway show to link to sections of the site.

In addition, Fendi keeps true to its Italian roots by offering the site in both its native Italian and English.

Users can also search the brand’s collections such as Home, Kids, Women and Men.

Fendi Forever touches on the history of Fendi, current advertisements and a photo gallery.

Consumers can also search for a local Fendi boutique and learn the latest news from the mobile site.

Gilt Groupe – The Gilt Groupe empire encompasses six mobile apps in addition to its newly-founded mobile site.

Designed to hook BlackBerry users, one of the only major segment of smartphones without a Gilt app, the cross-platform mobile site transcends the look and feel of both the Gilt Web site and mobile apps.

Users can browse through the flash sales broken up by trend, designer and product.

There are options to download the Gilt Groupe mobile app and an option to visit the Gilt.com full Web site.

The commerce-enabled site is available on all smartphones, which means that Gilt’s mobile conversions are likely to increase even more.

Kiwi Collection – Kiwi Collection, an online destination that lets affluent travelers book reservations at discounted prices at luxury hotels, has bolstered its marketing strategy by optimizing its Web site for mobile devices.

Users can swipe through hotels such as the St. Regis, Ritz-Carlton, Four Seasons and Mandarin Oriental or type in keywords in the search bar.

The site’s homepage has a swipeable image that allows customers to leaf through different discounted sites.

The Kiwi Collection mobile site uses beautiful photography and color to demonstrate the destinations featured on this travel Web site.

Users can check the hotel availability and book reservations on their phones.

The site also gives contact information, information and access to the entire Kiwi Collection site.

Mandarin Oriental – The mobile site of this luxury hotel uses the same artwork and simple functionality as its mobile application and Web site, making for a seamless transition across channels.

The site uses stunning images and large, clear font to make it easy to navigate.

Hotels are split up according to country and city with plenty of information on the hotel, nearby sites, photo galleries and booking information.

A clock also displays the local time of the hotel of which the customer is looking.

Users can immediately book reservations via the optimized site.

The site also has a “read me later” option, where users can send pages to themselves or others via email.

Mercedes-Benz – Mercedes-Benz’s mobile site is one of the most functional and aesthetically pleasing mobile sites for a luxury automaker.

The most recent models are flaunted in clear, large images at the top of the homepage where users can swipe their fingers over the images to get to the next picture.

Users can also click-through the images to view more detailed information about the particular car.

Scrolling down, Mercedes customers can see entertainment, service and contact options.

The multilingual site also offers consumers the chance to opt-in to an SMS newsletter.

Consumers can also share the site by entering a friend or family member’s mobile number.

Net-A-Porter – Net-A-Porter’s mobile site puts all of the branded information on the homepage so that consumers do not have to search it to find the section that they want.

The clearly-dissected categories pay tribute to the Net-A-Porter Web site, where products and designers are easy to find, as well.

Net-A-Porter’s mobile site also has YouTube, Facebook and Twitter functionality.

There is a link to Fashion Fix, the online retailer’s blog, through a link at the bottom of the page.

Users can look at and buy luxury branded apparel, accessories and leather goods from this mobile site.

Ralph Lauren – The American-owned apparel and accessories designer recently launched its new mobile site to round out its mobile strategy.

The commerce-enabled, mobile-optimized site features the same preppy and classic style for which the brand is renowned. It also features coverage from RL Magazine and a link to download the Ralph Lauren mobile app.

Ralph Lauren’s mobile site divides itself into Girls, Boys, Men, Women and Home.

Users can search for the nearest Ralph Lauren retailer and sign up to receive emails from the brand.

Final Take
Rachel Lamb, editorial assistant on Luxury Daily, New York

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Tags: Bloomingdales, BMW, Chanel, Fendi, Gilt Groupe, Kiwi Collection, luxury, luxury marketing, Mandarin Oriental, Mercedes Benz, mobile sites, Net-A-Porter, Ralph Lauren