3 Ways Luxury Brick-and-Mortar Retailers Can Win Against E-Tailers

These findings emphasize the importance of ensuring sales associates not only know the products, but also connect with consumers on a personal level. One way to enable this type of behavior is to have associates sell the "benefit of the benefit."

A sports coat, for example, goes well beyond keeping the consumer warm. It's an opportunity for them to build identity. Does the coat have a British feel? Does it remind the consumer of the sports jacket his dad used to wear during family vacations when he was a little boy? The store associate can use the jacket as an opportunity to transport the shopper to an idealized time and place.