December 2025
Written by
Abbie Mason
E-commerce
Marketing strategy
Product launch
Tech
London Luxury Goes Digital With Purpose
Luxury in London has always been built on two things that can feel almost contradictory. Heritage and pace. We cherish ritual, but we live quickly. We love the theatre of belonging, but we want it to feel effortless.
That tension is exactly why the most successful luxury brands in the city are moving everyday touchpoints onto phones.
Not to replace the human experience, but to remove friction around it. Digital options are showing up in places that used to rely on physical signals of access. Two of the clearest examples are private members’ clubs shifting from physical cards to digital membership, and hotels adopting online check in with mobile room keys.
In both cases, the ambition is the same. Make arrival simpler for guests and members, while giving operators a clearer view of spend, habits, and behaviour that can improve service.
Membership cards go digital
London’s members’ clubs have always understood the power of a physical card. It is a token of access and identity. Institutions such as The Arts Club in Mayfair still centre their offer on selective membership and a culture driven community. (UK Finance)
What is changing is how that identity is carried. Increasingly, membership lives in an app or mobile wallet, with a physical card offered as an option rather than the default. This is happening now because member behaviour has already moved.
The wider behaviour shift is already here
Digital wallets have become normal for UK consumers, especially in cities like London. UK Finance reports that 57 percent of UK adults used a mobile wallet in 2024, up from 42 percent the year before. (UK Finance) The Payment Systems Regulator found that digital wallets accounted for 29 percent of UK card transactions in 2023, up from 8 percent in 2019. (PSR)
So the question for luxury clubs is no longer whether members are ready for a digital card. It is how to introduce one without compromising the sense of tradition.
What clubs gain from digital membership
Platforms offering digital membership passes, such as Club Control’s Club Key, let clubs run a blended model. Members can enter through a digital card on their phone while still having the choice of a physical card if they prefer. (PSR)
Once membership sits digitally, clubs gain three practical advantages.
1. Easier entry that preserves ritual
Digital cards remove an everyday point of friction. There is no forgotten card, no delay, no awkward manual check. Members just arrive and move into the space. Because the technology lives quietly in the background, the front of house experience can remain properly traditional.
2. Spend tracking that happens without visible admin
When membership and payment connect through a digital layer, clubs can see spend patterns at an individual level. That includes frequency of visits, which parts of the venue members use most, and how spending changes over time. Instead of relying on anecdotal staff knowledge, clubs gain a consistent view of member value and preferences.
London clubs are already leaning into this direction. Soho House, for example, links member identity to its app and digital payment tools. This allows members to manage reservations and tabs through their phones. The service feels smoother to the member, while spend and usage data becomes far easier to track for the operator. (finder.com)
3. Behavioural insight that improves retention and relevance
The power of digital membership is not the card itself, but the data loop behind it. A digital pass can show which events drive repeat visits, what times members tend to use the space, and who is starting to disengage. That lets clubs shape programming, communications, and service around actual behaviour, not assumptions.
For heritage led London clubs, this is not about turning membership into something transactional. It is about staying close to what members value, and keeping the experience light.
Hotels move check in and room keys onto phones
Hotels are approaching digitisation in a similarly considered way. The traditional keycard and front desk check in are not disappearing, but digital options are becoming a standard part of luxury hospitality, particularly in London where guests expect speed and choice.
Park Plaza London Riverbank is a clear London reference point for this shift. Guests can complete online check in and use a mobile key via the Park Plaza Services app, while still being able to collect a physical keycard if they want one. (Park Plaza Digital Services Hub)
The model keeps check in human for guests who want tradition, and frictionless for guests who want pace.
Guests are asking for this
A survey commissioned by Mews found that more than 40 percent of travellers prefer to check in via a hotel website, app, or digital kiosk, and nearly 80 percent are willing to stay at hotels with automated or self service front desks. (insights.ehotelier.com) That preference is especially strong in global cities where travel is frequent and time is tight.
What hotels gain from digital check in and mobile keys
1. Faster arrivals and calmer lobbies
Online check in reduces queues and admin. Guests can go straight to their room after arrival rather than queueing to complete paperwork. Teams have more time to focus on welcome, not processing.
2. A sharper view of guest behaviour
Mobile key usage and digital check in create a behavioural footprint of the stay. Hotels can track arrival times, peak movement windows through the building, repeat patterns in room selection, and the link between digital engagement and spend. This data supports smarter staffing, a more intuitive guest journey, and better targeting for loyalty offers. (insights.ehotelier.com)
3. A direct channel for personalisation and upsell
Once guests are active in the hotel app for check in and access, the app becomes a live service channel. It allows hotels to offer upgrades, dining prompts, and event invitations in a way that feels helpful rather than sales driven. Over time, it also strengthens first party data, which is becoming increasingly central to hospitality loyalty strategies in Europe. (insights.ehotelier.com)
The best luxury hotels use digital access to remove dull moments, not to create new ones.
The intelligence behind simple experiences
Members’ clubs and hotels operate differently, but their digitisation is driven by the same luxury logic. - Arrival should be easy Whether a guest is reaching a room or a member is stepping into a club, the first ten minutes shape the relationship. Digital access removes unnecessary steps. - Spend, habits, and behaviour become visible Once access and identity live digitally, operators gain reliable first party insight into how people use the space, how often they return, and what they value enough to spend on. - Service becomes more personal because it is more informed The data is not the product. It is the tool that lets luxury brands stay relevant. Better event programming, better staff planning, better recognition, and a more intuitive sense of what each person wants from their experience. London luxury is not going digital to chase technology. It is doing it to protect what luxury has always promised here. Ease, choice, and experiences that feel properly considered.