Today, technology and luxury work hand in hand. After all, some would say that technology is a luxury in and of itself! In certain respects, each gives the feeling of the other; that sense of easy, on-demand services that offer instant pleasure. They work well together, and technology is constantly pushing luxury experiences forward in fresh, innovative and exciting ways.

Consequently, here are a few technology trends that are changing luxury experiences.

Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has begun to make waves in the fashion industry. For example, highly luxurious fashion brands like Burberry have begun implementing AI into the customer experience to further strengthen the bond between brand and consumer.

Reportedly, their voluntary reward schemes and use of big data allow them to access their customers brand history, and subsequently prompt human in-store staff to make certain recommendations. This personalises Burberry’s services both online and in store in terms of product recommendations, allowing customers to create their own ensembles without pouring over racks or web pages of clothing.

There’s also the matter of chatbots for other company websites too, which answer customer queries immediately to stop them clicking away in confusion. If visitors are ever stumped or struggling to navigate a firm’s webpage, their questions can be immediately directed at the chatbot to improve their understanding. Ultimately, AI technologies retain customers for the long term.

Advanced Robotics

In 2015, Japan’s Henn na Hotel introduced the first humanoid robots to serve as staff members in hotel hospitality. They’re outfitted to appear human too, fixed with permanent smiles while being coded to serve. Reportedly, they even discuss things like tomorrow’s weather with guests, as well as work all the micro-managing responsibilities too. Far from just a programme that spouts information, these robots have also been designed to have interpersonal skills too…

As with all technology, they’re fitted with chips to get them in working order, keeping them firmly operational. Of course, while one could argue this is all as eerie as it is luxurious, it’s the fact that they can run a hotel with very little human intervention that’s impressive here. Human connections are often part and parcel with a luxury experience or service, but here, that human connection merges with technology more seamlessly than ever.

Voice Commerce

Where staff members and screens are still the primary points of contact in shopping, voice commands are starting to grow in popularity now too. The main reason for this is that the voice commerce technology is ‘quicker than typing’, so now customers can speak clear commands for items they want to use, or even the goods they want to browse, buy and have delivered to them.

One estimation sees that 50 percent of online searches will be voiced instead of written by 2020, which shows just how rapidly this technology is picking up steam. Of course, this makes everything faster and more fluid, and we’re already seeing it with video games consoles and AI such as Siri and Alexa. It’s only developing further from here…