by Ray Schultz , Columnist
Source: www.mediapost.com, June 2023
Consumers crave luxury and are eager to spend on it this year, judging by a new study from Wunderkind.
Of the consumers polled, 70.2% are upbeat about their personal finances, and 67.3% are shopping more online compared to last year. Moreover, 89% expect to maintain or increase their luxury spending in the year ahead.
When shopping for luxury goods, 50.4% research a brand or product three to five times. But 89.8% say personalization in email and social media helps drive purchases and engagement.
Once they have made that first purchase, consumers tend to be loyal and to spend more, particularly if the brand has loyalty and VIP offerings, the study says.
Most luxury shoppers prefer buying directly from the brand’s website. This also suits brand needs, enabling firms to identify visitors, collect data and tailor personalized digital experiences — a feature important to 86.2% of consumers, the study says
The luxury items most likely to be purchased online are clothing, skincare & makeup, and shoes. The biggest driver for 24.9% of consumers is “personal expression” in day-to-day wear.
All this conflicts slightly with earlier findings from Wunderkind, showing that 52% of U.S. consumers are cutting back on non-essential purchases, and that 37% are reducing their spending even on essential. But that study also showed that 78% of the Gen Z cohort have no plans to reduce personal spending.
“Luxury brands have traditionally invested in brand marketing to continue to create memorable experiences for their customers,” says Amandine Servain, vice president Marketing at Wunderkind.
Servain adds: “As consumers increasingly shop online, the time has come for luxury brands to use this opportunity to identify their web visitors and optimize the digital journey with performance marketing solutions that will drive revenue through acquisition or loyalty, while maintaining brand consistency.”
Wunderkind surveyed 500 consumers.
