What does luxury mean to consumers today? Well, answers to that question continue to change in a fluctuating landscape.
Recent studies from Morning Consult Intelligence brand tracker put some consumer sentiments into perspective in terms of luxury.
Quality was the one key theme that dominated all luxury categories including retail products, food and beverages, and travel. In fact, for 75% of the ~2,200 US consumers surveyed, product quality, more than cost, was the defining attribute of luxury retail purchases.
“When consumers are defining what luxury means to them for travel, cost actually came in at the very last of all the options we gave people when they’re asked, ‘What does luxury actually mean?’” Claire Tassin, retail and e-commerce analyst at Morning Consult, who authored the reports, told Retail Brew.
Quality also meant different things for different categories. While for luxury travelers, it meant comfort, for food and beverage purchasers, it meant fresh food and the use of rare ingredients.
Superior customer service was also paramount for many consumers—72% said that good customer service was a big part of their luxury shopping expectations followed by exclusive access to products (65%), expensive products (64%), and personal shopping services (63%).
But beyond what consumers were looking for in their luxury shopping experience, another important question is: Where are they looking for it? And for all the talk of online shopping, most respondents preferred going to stores.
“Generally, people are more inclined to make luxury purchases in a brick-and-mortar space, especially considering the importance of great customer service in that definition of luxury,” Tassin said.
This also applied to the luxury secondhand market. “Even though The RealReal and Vestiaire Collective are all those fantastic resale sites, people still prefer to make secondhand luxury purchases in stores as well. So still a lot of room for your local consignment shop,” she said.
That rule had exceptions though, namely because of Gen Z, who seem to prefer buying products online; it’s just not necessarily for purchasing luxury fashion. “Technology is actually the space where they’re most interested, and that’s usually the most e-commerce friendly category across all of the work that we do here,” Tassin added.
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While this seems to be the general overview of the US consumer, a second report also authored by Tassin does a deeper dive into the global luxury consumer. One interesting fact emerged from the surveys. “In the US and France—the more established economies—the wealth is more concentrated in the older generations. In China, India, and Mexico, they are concentrated in the millennial generation,” Tassin said. “So when you think about that shifting luxury shopper between, obviously the China luxury market is of massive interest, knowing that that’s really the target audience is a much younger generation is really interesting.”
But whether in the United States or Asia, retailers will be happy to know that the general luxury consumer today is young and optimistic about their financial future. Still, challenges remain for luxury brands as inflation and rising costs deter many shoppers from discretionary spending.
“If you’re thinking about the fashion sector specifically, consumers are so hyper trend-focused and being able to stay relevant to that core customer while also sort of maintaining the brand’s ethos and style, it is something a lot of brands have struggled with, where they’ve maybe swung too far in the direction of chasing the trend-focused consumer and maybe lost some of their core customer,” she said. “I also think it is just about meeting the customer where they are, and knowing that a lot of these brands have been historically more reluctant to get into the tech space, and learning how to use that in a way that still feels luxurious.”
She cited the example of using platforms like WhatsApp to communicate with clientele—which many luxury retailers have adapted, especially in countries like China and India. “Finding ways to integrate technology that still feels highly personal, where that service is still highly present is something that a lot of luxury brands are moving toward, but I think that’s a tough sort of balance for them to strike as well,” she said.