Luxury retail shoppers seem impervious to inflation and worries of a recession, and their spending is increasing on luxury lifestyle, health, and wellness niches. That is the key takeaway from the most recent Saks Luxury Pulse, a periodic online survey of luxury consumers’ attitudes towards shopping, spending, and fashion trends during the current pandemic.
Survey respondents described their current mood as “hopeful” despite the pandemic. The survey found that higher-income earners, those making $200,000 and up, have continued to spend, prioritizing health and wellness. They plan to buy about the same or more luxury items in the next few months as they did in the past three months. When asked how they would most likely spend an extra $500, they said they would use it for vacation, leisure travel, shoes, accessories, and handbags.
Gautam Chandra, Senior VP of Luxury Retail for Kemper Development and The Bellevue Collection, helps to explain the phenomenon from an insider’s perspective. He explained, “Luxury Retail sales are generally insulated from economic conditions as their target segment are the super wealthy. This segment, with their abundant buying power, provides strong resilience to face the headwinds for the luxury sector.”
Chandra added, “The growing wealth disparity fueled by the pandemic is adding to the luxury retail sector’s strength. The disposable income of the super wealthy consumers has increased because less was spent on leisure, travel, and vacations.”
