March 22, 2010
By the ZippyCart Ecommerce Software Content Team
Luxury consumers are shunning the traditional retail store experience in favor of online shopping, as they are able to save time and get great deals on various designer brands. A recent study by Unity Marketing entitled “How the Affluent Luxury Consumer Uses the Internet and Social Media: An In-Depth Profile,” provides insight into the online shopping habits of the affluent luxury market consumer. This study surveyed over 1,600 affluent luxury consumers with an average annual household income of $239,300. There are many things which the biggest spenders (“heavy users”) have in common, in that they’re mostly under the age of 35, have household incomes over $250,000, and they prefer shopping online for designer goods anytime of the day. One example of these highly affluent shoppers might be the younger, fashionable .com couple in San Francisco with a dual income and no kids. These consumers lead hectic lifestyles where their careers may demand them to work odd hours which may make it difficult to also fit in numerous hours to go shopping. So it makes sense why these highly affluent shoppers would go online at night, after a long day of work, and browse designer sample sale sites like RueLaLa.com, Gilt.com, or HauteLook.com.
Currently the numbers are just slightly in favor for what the study refers to as “heavy users” and their preference for shopping online. The study reported that 55% of these heavy users prefer online shopping for luxury goods, whereas only 43% of other shoppers in the study choose shopping online over traditional stores. Another common theme suggested that roughly 80% of people in the survey were social media users, and use this medium to chat with friends about deals, among other things. The data in this report should give luxury retailers more confidence that they need to jump into the online space with an ecommerce site, and figure out how to make it work. Currently many luxury brands avoid selling online, but as more of their target demographic shifts online, they have to follow them and reach out via social media in order to stay relevant and increase revenues.
Amy is the co-founder of ZippyCart. She went to school for film in Cleveland, Ohio and ended up working in the field of viral video marketing, which eventually led her to her real profession: SEO. When she's not writing for ZippyCart, she can be found out and about Seattle, WA.
