Hugo Boss does not have an omni-channel eCommerce strategy

For those that don’t know I am getting married in June. Which means I am in need of a tuxedo to wear during my wedding day. One of the brands I looked at is Hugo Boss.

I found a tuxedo online that I wanted. It was at a reduced price, however, they didn’t have the size I needed. I quickly went to one of the stores available in the local Chicago area and informed the store employee of my request. Namely, I wanted this Tuxedo at the price listed online. To my surprise they wouldn’t honor the price that was shown online. “Oh we are sorry, but that price is only available online.”

Wait. What? Plus, it gets worse. They used a common sales tactic of bait and switch. “We don’t have that tuxedo, but we do have this tuxedo…” (which was 33% higher than the one I wanted.

At this point I was extremely disappointed at the lack of a omni-channel strategy from a large brand like Hugo Boss. How is this even possible in 2014?

Quickly, I walked into Nordstroms and mentioned that I was looking to purchase a tuxedo. The store associated gave me three options, with one a mis-marked sale item that he wanted to make sure I was aware of. How’s that for service? I then asked him about a tux online (on nordstorms.com) and if he would honor the price.

“Of course!”

Because of this Hugo Boss lost a $900 tuxedo sale, plus probably around another $600 in accessories. Prior to that, I have three hugo boss suits with MSRP around $950.