In high-end retail, the technology that truly matters is the kind you don’t see. In fact, in fashion, jewelry, automotive, and luxury hotel boutiques, the aim shouldn’t be a “wow” effect from screens and gadgets. Instead, technologies should work behind the scenes to amplify – not replace – the relational power of client advisors.
Real innovation, in other words, doesn’t lie in the tablet in the customer’s hands, but in the Artificial Intelligence that allows the client advisor to remember preferences, stories, and desires, making every customer encounter unique. This is the key insight of a 2025 study conducted by SDA Bocconi with the support of Fondazione Altagamma.
The research reveals a fascinating paradox: The more sophisticated the technology, the more it must disappear. In luxury, true value stems not from technological performance, but from the authenticity of the human relationship.
The questions
The study in question explores a fundamental issue for the future of high-end retail and operations: How can technology create value without diluting the exclusive experience that defines these brands?
So far, in-store technology adoption has often focused on visible elements, from interactive windows to automated personalization systems, with mixed results. In light of this, several research questions emerge:
- When and how does high-tech truly enhance the relationship with the client?
- What is the right balance between operational efficiency and experiential authenticity?
- Which metrics can measure impact that, by its very nature, escapes traditional KPIs?
Fieldwork
The SDA Bocconi research team adopted a qualitative approach, observing retail locations and conducting in-depth interviews with over twenty brands and numerous key players in the luxury sector. The sample spanned retail directors to IT managers, innovation managers to boutique directors across diverse industries such as fashion, jewelry, yachting, automotive, and hospitality.
After collecting and analyzing the data, the researchers came up with five key insights:
- Technology works when it’s invisible: effective yet discreet, empowering the client advisor without stealing the spotlight.
- Digital tools should be allies, not doubles. They must support, not replace, client advisors – even if that means refraining from automating tasks that carry symbolic or relational value.
- The real magic happens behind the scenes, in operations, where Customer Relationship Management systems and Artificial Intelligence orchestrate data and information to make the customer experience seamless and natural.
- The introduction of any digital tool is always a negotiation with the client, who will accept it only when it reinforces the authenticity and uniqueness of the relationship.
- Measuring the value of technology requires new instruments. Traditional KPIs fall short of capturing elements such as rarity, rituality, and relationship quality.
All this means a new compass is needed – one that can survey the consistency with the brand’s identity and the impact on the perception of exclusivity.
Looking ahead
In high-end retail, the question is no longer whether to adopt technology, but how to do it. The future of luxury will depend on intelligent integration, where digital technology becomes an invisible yet essential part of the experience. Invisibility, in fact, is power: Technology creates value when it amplifies human connections without replacing them.
In this perspective, true empowerment revolves around client advisors, who can use digital tools to offer a more personal, coherent, and memorable service. This in turn generates a virtuous cycle between data and empathy, efficiency and authenticity. However, new metrics are needed to manage this balance. Measurement must go beyond quantity or performance, evaluating coherence, quality, and alignment with the brand’s identity.
For managers, this means developing a digital culture that merges technology with human sensitivity, investing in sensemaking and storytelling skills to transform data into relationship experiences.
For policymakers and educators designing future training programs, the challenge is to foster pathways that combine technical expertise with relational soft skills, preparing professionals capable of translating innovation into human value.
This is precisely the direction of the SDA Bocconi/Altagamma research: building assessment tools capable of capturing the invisible value that technology brings to luxury. Because even in the age of Artificial Intelligence, true excellence still arises from human relationships.
