Luxury consumers are changing – here’s what you need to know

According to consultancy firm Bain, online will account for 30% of luxury sales by 2025 and shoppers’ needs are shifting. Here are four ways consumers are changing.

Technology continues to transform shopping habits 

Consumers today want a highly personalised journey; brands need to be able to connect with them at any time, in any place, on any channel.

Facebook research found 21% of consumers have used an augmented reality or virtual reality device, for example, and 14% have purchased via those tools. 

Facebook research found 21% of consumers have used an augmented reality or virtual reality device and 14% have purchased via those tools

Many brands are already responding to this desire for immediacy. For example, L’Oréal Malaysia held a 12-hour virtual beauty festival on Facebook Live, connecting with people via conversational commerce. The brand reached 2.6 million people, had 17,000 chats in 24 hours, and brought in a month of sales in 24 hours. 

Social shopping is growing 

The past 18 months have led to a jump in social shopping – offering the frictionless, personalised experience shoppers crave, and they appreciate the discoverability aspect.

Recent research from Facebook showed 39% of people weren’t intentionally shopping when they discovered a product on a Facebook platform. 

Influencers play an important role here and the results can be dramatic. US beauty retailer Sephora collaborated with Instagram creators on ad content for its new fragrances and achieved an ad recall lift of 17 points compared with its usual brand assets and a 1.3% lift in purchase intent. 

Influencers play an important role here and the results can be dramatic

It achieved this by working with neuroscientist Jessica Herrington, whose doctoral research translated fragrance notes into visual cues.

She created three AR filters that played with different ingredients – their textures, colours, shapes and movements. Meanwhile, 3D-animation designer Roman Bratschi created videos that highlighted the different notes in the fragrances and evoked each scent. 

The role of the store is changing 

Luxury stores are changing in response to these shifts. Luxury consumers have high expectations for a seamless omnichannel experience and will expect everything to be consistent across channels.

Harrods opened its first H Beauty store during the pandemic at Lakeside in Essex – its first store outside of London.

Luxury consumers have high expectations for a seamless omnichannel experience and will expect everything to be consistent across channels

Aimed at consumers younger than its traditional shopper, it worked with Instagram micro-influencers to launch, with the aim having an inclusive, relatable and accessible image.

The goal was online connection leading to in-store visits – and it worked. The campaign led to an increase in sales of 20% more than forecast, a footfall uplift of 15% more than predicted and a lift in standard brand awareness of 5%. 

Immersive engagement and connection is crucial 

Luxury consumers need to feel valued by brands – they want personal connections, a feeling of belonging and an engaging community. 

Tiffany & Co is one brand to have tapped into this, using chat to create a personalised conversational experience. It closed the conversation loop with care-oriented chatbots and reached its customers in new ways to ensure they felt looked after. 

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