Industry insights from the world of Private Clubs and Luxury Lifestyle curated by MobiCom
12.08.2022 - Top 15 Golf And Country Clubs In The World Honored With Platinum Status - Forbes
Why Members-Only Clubs Are Everywhere Right Now
A new wave of private restaurants, workspaces, wellness centers, and nightclubs has taken New York City by storm. Emily Sundberg gets inside most of them—and helps us understand why so many young New Yorkers are gleefully shelling out membership dues. Before I begin this story, I must disclose that much of it was written within the lacquered mahogany walls of Casa Cipriani New York, the 115-year-old ferry terminal turned members’ club next to where the Staten Island Ferry comes into Manhattan. My spot was a corner couch in front of the crackling fireplace, not because the club was a subject of this story but because I’m a member there and I like to watch the buzzing traffic of private helicopters and boats in the harbor.
The first tour inside Manhattan’s newest private club, with $100,000 membership fees
A battle between elite membership clubs is about to reach a whole new level, as Core Club’s new 60,000-square-foot megaclub prepares to open in Manhattan next month.
The new Core space, spread over four floors above Midtown, is the latest in a wave of elite membership clubs that have opened in major cities since the pandemic. From Casa Cipriani and Zero Bond in New York, to the Aster and Heimat in Los Angeles and ZZ’s Club in Miami, the clubs have redefined the old-world membership clubs and created safe spaces for today’s privacy-minded, highly mobile wealthy.
Balancing Luxury and Livelihoods: On-Demand Pay’s Role in Private Club Operations
Dive into the importance of balancing member luxury with staff financial well-being, and how innovative payment solutions not only uplift employee morale but also elevate the overall club experience.
London’s famous department store Harrods is opening a private club in China for the ultra-rich
Iconic London department store Harrods will open a new private members club in Shanghai, the first of its kind outside the UK, in a bid to tap resilient demand from ultra-wealthy Chinese amid a slowing recovery in consumption.
The new club, called The Residence, will open at the end of this year on the second floor of Cha House, a central Shanghai heritage building where a Harrods tea room and bar, which are open to public, are already located. British celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay’s first restaurant in the Chinese financial and retail capital will be housed inside the club, where annual fees will start at 150,000 yuan ($21,000).
Cracking the Code for a New Wave of Members Clubs
Private members clubs are surging. What began with Soho House’s template of global expansion has spawned a variety of new players.
The Hollywood-centric San Vicente Bungalows plans to open in New York, which has its own new scene with the likes of Zero Bond, Casa Cipriani and Casa Cruz. London, which has a storied history of members clubs, has a flood of new entrants. In Doha, Soho House offshoot the Ned has a well-designed outpost in a stunning former Interior Ministry building.
Read More…
Why luxury sales are setting records amid a world in crisis
There are more millionaires from different generations and more millionaires who engage in conspicuous consumption. That means that in these uncertain times, a sector of the population is willing to spend a lot of money on a product just because it is expensive.
A classic mid-size 2.55 Chanel bag now costs €9,700, a third more than it did before the pandemic and double its price a decade ago. The French company usually raises the price of its classic items twice a year “because of inflation and currency fluctuations,” its chief financial officer, Philippe Blondiaux, recently said at a press conference.
The World Is Volatile but Luxury Brands Look Serene
Hermès is among the three luxury-goods companies that together snagged the majority of incremental revenue in 2022. In a world coping with inflation, war and bank runs, it seems counterintuitive that demand for luxury is still running hot.
Yet in recent days, two big designer brands reported bumper first-quarter sales. Paris-listed Hermès RMS 1.52%increase; green up pointing triangle said its revenue grew 23% from a year earlier in the three months through March, ahead of the 13% analysts were expecting. At LVMH LVMUY -0.13%decrease; red down pointing triangle Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton—owned by Bernard Arnault, the world’s wealthiest person—sales grew 17% in the same period. This was also much higher than analysts had forecast.
Eight Clubs Receive America’s Greatest Private Clubs Awards in Q1 2023
America’s Greatest Private Clubs names eight clubs as the first in the nation to be recognized for achieving the CMAA 5 Foundations of Excellence.
America’s Greatest Private Clubs names eight clubs as the first in the nation to be recognized: BallenIsles Country Club, Palm Beach Gardens, FL; Emerald Dunes Club, West Palm Beach, FL; High Ridge Country Club, Lantana, FL; The Country Club at Mirasol, Palm Beach Gardens, FL; Quail Valley Golf Club, Vero Beach, FL; RedStick Golf Club, Vero Beach, FL; Sebonack Golf Club, Southampton, NY; and Spring Island Club, Beaufort, SC. Each of these clubs is highly rated when measured against industry-accepted merit standards, including key rating factors, and on-site and written evaluations: all void of perceived influences based on individual professional staff or board achievements. Year after year these five industry standards are the hallmark of the Club Managers Association of America education and training programs.
Report: Nearly Half of Young Adults Live with Their Parents to Save Money — But They're Spending Big on Luxury Goods
Many young adults in the U.S. live with their parents to save money amid high inflation and real estate costs — but a lot of that money's going somewhere else.
Nearly half of all young adults (48%) between the ages of 18 and 29 reside at home with their parents, and their savings are fueling luxury retail sales, according to a report from a conglomerate of analysts citing data from the U.S. Census Bureau, per Fox Business.
US Prestige Beauty Sales Rise 15% to $27.1 Billion in 2022
Skincare, makeup and fragrance all see gains in new data from The NPD Group. Consumers are seeking out the latest and greatest beauty products right now while marketers are seeing success from new product development. US prestige beauty industry sales revenue grew 15%, year over year, to reach $27.1 billion in 2022, according to The NPD Group. All prestige beauty categories grew by double digits with makeup rising 18%, skincare growing 12%, fragrance increasing 11%, and hair products up 22%.
Prestige beauty was the fastest-growing industry segment, across more than $4 trillion in US general merchandise consumer spending tracked by NPD and IRI. Furthermore, it was the only industry across both discretionary retail and consumer packaged goods (CPG) categories to experience unit sales growth in 2022.
Audemars Piguet and Dreamscape come together for a virtual experience
Swiss Haute Horlogerie manufacturer Audemars Piguet and the world leader in immersive virtual reality content creation, Dreamscape Immersive, have joined forces to develop an experience that plunges participants into a wonderful world where they become the actors. Entitled TheClockwork Forest, this adventure will be exclusively available at Dreamscape’s Geneva location beginning in March 2023 for a limited period of time.
Ranked: The World’s Wealthiest Cities, by Number of Millionaires
How many millionaires, centimillionaires, and billionaires live in the world’s wealthiest cities?
While such metrics are not all encompassing, these measurements of private wealth do help put the financial health and economic activity of some of the world’s wealthiest cities in perspective. This infographic uses information from the Henley Global Citizens Report, in partnership with New World Wealth, to rank the world’s wealthiest cities. It leverages a comprehensive data set that tracks the movements and spending habits of high-net-worth individuals in over 150 cities around the world.
The Year Ahead: Digital Marketing in the Age of Privacy
As digital marketing becomes less effective and more costly, brands will embrace creative campaigns and channels such as retail media networks and the metaverse to achieve greater returns on investment and deepen community-led customer engagement.
Digital marketing playbooks have been turned upside down by recent data privacy changes, mandating an existential shift for fashion brands that once relied on customer targeting tools offered at scale by Silicon Valley’s tech giants. Third-party ad targeting, social media growth hacking techniques and early iterations of loyalty programmes and personalisation had been important contributors to the rise of digital marketing and e-commerce brands.
Sports and Fashion Won Big Together This Year
When the teams are brands and the brands are stars and the fans are consumers, everything blends into one enormous business opportunity. On Sunday, as Lionel Messi and the Argentine national team stood on the podium in Qatar in front of their World Cup trophy, the general mood was one of joy and admiration, though in some corners of the internet a few viewers had noticed a detail that had them raising their eyebrows.
Why had the gold statuette arrived on the field in a logo-bedecked steel-toned Louis Vuitton trunk?
Estée Lauder to Buy Tom Ford in $2.8 Billion Deal
U.S. cosmetics company, prevailing over big luxury names including Kering, will spend roughly $2.3 billion after payments. Estée Lauder Cos. will acquire Tom Ford in a deal valued at roughly $2.8 billion, building on a longstanding licensing agreement and marking the cosmetics giant’s largest-ever acquisition, executives said Tuesday.
Estée Lauder prevailed in an auction for the high-end fashion label that drew competition from big names in luxury including Kering SA. The French company was poised to win the auction earlier this month, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The New Age of Luxury Has Arrived. And It's “Guilded.”
Rest-inations, digital dining clubs and guestlist getaways are the new trends reshaping the world of the ultra-high net worth individual, who post-pandemic, have become an increased focus for luxury brands. But there is more than meets the eye to this new age of luxury, because it’s not just about creating a community for the super-wealthy, but also about curating communities for each segment of customer.
Could virtual spaces on the metaverse be the future of luxury retail?
Fantastical, hyper-realistic and limitless, virtual environments on the metaverse are making the impossible less so. Michael Potts, CEO of 3D design agency Polycount.io, takes us through what makes these spaces so exceptional and the potential they hold for brands and users alike.
Imagine what it would be like to instantaneously visit any place in the world—to arrive in a whole new space within a matter of seconds, explore sights never seen before and interact with people there. While doing so physically may be impossible, what is becoming progressively viable—and increasingly popular—is the ability to enter new spaces through the metaverse’s virtual environments.
Global Luxury Goods Market Report 2022: Increasing Young Working-Class Population & Consumer Awareness About the Benefits of Using Quality Products Driving Growth - ResearchAndMarkets.com
The Global Luxury Goods Market stood at USD258.12 billion in 2020 is forecast to grow at a CAGR of 8.52% in value terms to reach around USD429.81 billion by 2026. The increasing young working-class population, growing consumer awareness about the benefits of using quality products, and the surge in purchasing power of consumers are the primary factors driving the demand for the Global Luxury Goods Market in the forecast period.
Globalization has increased the accessibility and reach of consumers to purchase from international and national brands, which has positively impacted the demand for luxury goods worldwide. The rising prevalence of skin-related disorders, growing pollution levels, and the surge in consumer awareness about the benefits of taking preventive measures bolster the adoption of high-priced skincare products among consumers.
Americans Snap Up Teslas, Bentleys, Lamborghinis as the Luxury-Auto Market Booms
The share of premium vehicles sold has risen, lifted by cash-rich buyers, growing affluence.
More Americans are opting to buy luxury vehicles than ever before, a shift fueled by cash-rich buyers who were able to bank savings during the pandemic and growing wealth among shoppers in the upper-income brackets.
Read More…
Welcome to the Golden Age of the Private Club
In the postpandemic era, private clubs are having a moment. What's behind the rush of new openings? In 2003, when Soho House’s founder, Nick Jones, opened the private social club’s first stateside location in Manhattan’s Meatpacking District, it was a relatively novel phenomenon. Until then, the city’s existing mix of members’ clubs harked back to the Gilded Age. They were regarded as exclusive social spaces where members of the monied elite could gather, gossip, and close hushed business deals. But Soho House’s modern interiors, downtown location and all-around newness offered an attractive and exciting alternative to a younger generation. Membership thrived, and the business has expanded to comprise 38 global locations.
Are vacationing plutocrats the true victims of inflation?
Pity those looking for a slice of luxury this summer. Consumer prices are rising fast the world over but at the fanciest hotels they are soaring. Last year you could book a night at Le Bristol, Paris’s best, for less than €1,000 ($1,170) a night, if you looked hard enough. Now rooms are going for hundreds of euros more. The price of a gin martini at London’s Dukes hotel (straight from the freezer, and hands down the city’s best) is shooting up faster than the tippler’s blood-alcohol level after the first sip. A basic room on a Monday night in November at a new Four Seasons in California’s wine country is going for about $2,000.
LVMH achieves an excellent first half of 2022
On Tuesday 26 July, LVMH, the world's leading luxury group, announced its results for the first half of 2022. The turnover of 36.7 billion euros largely exceeds the forecasted estimates. LVMH posted a net profit of 6.5 billion euros, up 23% compared to the first half of 2021. Last year's results had already been defined as a record.
Among the most profitable divisions, the Fashion and Leather Goods sector, represented by the iconic brands Christian Dior, Céline, Louis Vuitton, Fendi and Loro Piana, alone posted sales of 18 billion euros, generating an increase of 31% compared to the same period last year.
Overall, total sales for all brands and companies under the LVMH umbrella were a record 36.7 billion euros. Bloomberg's estimate was 35.4 billion.
The Private Club Is Making a Comeback. Rich Millennials and Remote Workers Have Found Their Hangout.
On a recent afternoon, Roopal Patel, fashion director of Saks, walked into an apartment on Fifth Avenue in New York, greeting Silvia Tcherassi, a Colombian fashion designer, with a hug. A model walked around in a dress from Tcherassi’s new collection, as groups of women sat on the couches, sipping cappuccinos.
The scene occurred at a private membership club called Fasano Fifth Avenue, and it’s one of the latest to generate buzz in the city. With the rise of private events and smaller gatherings across the globe, it makes sense.
Only on Roblox: Why Burberry is selling one-off cloud and foliage-covered virtual bags
The British luxury house is selling a limited-edition virtual range of its Lola handbags on the gaming platform’s avatar shop, each available for 24 hours only, made from materials you won’t find in real life.
Burberry is selling handbags made of clouds, water and wild foliage, with each design available for 24 hours only on Roblox, marking the British brand’s latest step toward digital fashion in the metaverse.
The Burberry Lola collection will feature five fantastical virtual bags, leaning into technology to achieve qualities that “would be quite difficult to do” in the physical world, says Rachel Waller, Burberry’s global vice president of channel innovation.
Read More…
The Very Important Customer Wants More Than Just Luxury Goods. They Want Emotional Connection
Private stores, more intimate events and elaborate gifting are just some of the lengths in which luxury brands seek to lure in the Very Important Customer, who post-pandemic has become more of a focus for companies seeking to gain more traction with this highly elusive spender, but what does cultivating that relationship actually mean for brands?
Change is afoot in the elusive world of ultra-luxury. When Chanel announced in June that it planned to cater to its Very Important Customers (VICs) more specifically by opening “very protected boutiques to service clients in a very exclusive way,” the news added to a growing trend of luxury brands expanding the services already offered to private clients.
Read More…
Personal luxury goods market to reach 360-380 billion euros by 2025
The personal luxury goods market is exhibiting an impressive rebound, according to new data from Bain & Company. With fuel from a successful 2021 holiday shopping season, the personal luxury goods market has now reached 288 billion euros in value, or $303 billion at the current exchange rate. Several factors have led to the recovery, including a European recovery, diversity and inclusion efforts and hopes for continued spending in China.
“Despite significant macro-economic challenges, including hyperinflation, slowing GDP growth and the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the personal luxury goods market proved resilient once again,” said Claudia D’Arpizio, partner at Bain & Company, in a statement. “Luxury goods brands started this year showing especially strong growth while also playing a leading role in the world’s ongoing sustainable and digital transformation.”
CEOs Make Digital Customer Engagement Their Competitive Strategy For The 21st Century
Michael Porter, the Harvard professor who literally wrote the book on Competitive Strategy, defines three dimensions of competition: Cost Leadership, Differentiation and Focus. For many years, global enterprises invested heavily in research and development to build a product differentiation competitive advantage, and their go-to-market approaches reflected this feature-based strategy. By focusing on differentiated product value, the objective was to finesse price-based perceived commodity competition, resulting in superior margins.
As many markets have seen significant consolidation, a strategy of dominant superior product advantage has diminished in its effectiveness, as most competitors have created similar products – all of which meet customers’ essential requirements. How, then, do executive leaders create sustained competitive advantage without being forced into to a cost leadership strategy? These seismic shifts in the completive landscape require a 21st century response. At a recent transformative CEO summit discussion, executive leaders of Xerox, Steelcase and The Associated Press all described their focus on digital customer engagement, as a pillar of their long-term growth strategy.
Is A Metaverse HQ With Bored Ape NFTs, Helipad, Cinema The Next Must-Have For Luxury Brands?
With extensive reception and conference suite, super-king bedroom, private cinema, wrap-around sky lounge boasting disco, jacuzzi, and helipad — not to mention panoramic views of Paris, Miami, and Dubai — the property spec reads like a high-end international real estate listing.
However, the Luxury Penthouses in question are actually complex, three-dimensional NFTs built-in photorealistic metaverse Spatial.io. Owners can invite up to 50 guests at a time — as avatars created via Spatial’s integrated Ready Player Me plug-in — to join them ‘at home.’
Lifestyle tropes abound in the shape of mid-century inspired bar carts, animated turntables, a wall-to wall-aquarium and that pièce de résistance integral to aspirational living, an animated helicopter.
There is also a gallery facility for showcasing NFTs from connected wallets as artwork on the walls (whether Bored Apes or Cryptopunks, a click calls up their OpenSea credentials) or even campaign images and logos in the case of luxury brands.
Metaverse Spending to Total $5 Trillion in 2030, McKinsey Predicts
Seventy-nine percent of survey respondents said they have already made a purchase in the metaverse.
Businesses’ and consumers’ annual global spending related to the metaverse could reach $5 trillion by 2030, according to a new report from consulting firm McKinsey & Co.
E-commerce in the metaverse will comprise some $2 trillion to $2.6 trillion of the total, while virtual advertising endeavors will make up another $144 billion to $206 billion, McKinsey said.
By comparison, spending around artificial intelligence totaled $93 billion last year, McKinsey said.
Procter & Gamble is placing a big bet on the metaverse to support its suite of brands
A creative and a technical leader from the consumer goods giant share how the metaverse has been a learning opportunity. It may be surprising that a 180-year-old maker of consumer products for the physical world is spending significant time and resources on the metaverse. But as leaders from Procter & Gamble explain, the main purpose of their exploration is to find new ways to interact with prospective customers and add value for them and retail partners.
At the Fortune Brainstorm Design conference on Tuesday, Phil Duncan, chief design officer at Procter & Gamble, said “any time that there’s a place where consumers are gravitating toward,” P&G is looking “to grow our businesses and, obviously, win the hearts and minds of consumers.”
The Rise Of The Metaverse: Where Crypto, NFT And Luxury Brands Merge
While a decade ago, it would have sounded like something out of a sci-fi action movie, the metaverse has become a bonafide part of the modern world. 2021, in particular, saw meta-mania fully grip the business sector, with Facebook announcing metaverse-focused projects and a slew of content relating to the metaverse being released.
Metaverse 2022: No longer the setting of a sci-fi epic, the metaverse is becoming as real as the material world. But what is the metaverse? In short, the metaverse refers to virtual worlds that are designed for humans to interact with— as easily as they do in the real world. This goes beyond playing games or chatting with avatars. More to my point, this means buying assets, getting married, travelling, and everything in between. Including fashion and related industries.
Luxury Fashion Brands are Investing in Metaverse
A few years ago, the idea of spending real money on virtual clothes seemed far-fetched unless you were part of the online gaming world. Recently, however, non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have come into public consciousness and been quickly adopted by independent artists able to build a community around their work.
In May 2021, Mike Winkelmann, the digital artist known as Beeple, posted a new work of digital art online. He did the same thing every day for 5,000 days, which together sold for an eye-watering $69mn (£52mn) at auction house Christie’s.
Global Luxury Goods Market to Reach $296.9 Billion by 2026
A new market study published by Global Industry Analysts Inc., (GIA) the premier market research company, today released its report titled "Luxury Goods - Global Market Trajectory & Analytics". The report presents fresh perspectives on opportunities and challenges in a significantly transformed post-COVID-19 marketplace.
Business Travel Rebounds as Execs Choose (Real) Face Time Over Zoom
Companies are reporting more trips, proving doomsayers from the pandemic’s darkest days wrong. Since January, Jen Coleman has kicked her videoconferencing habit, flying from her home in London, first to Miami and later to Melbourne, to see clients in person—and win a renewed contract for her company. “I’ve spent two years on Zoom,” says Coleman, 33, who helps Australian phone company Optus manage its relationship with Formula One driver Daniel Ricciardo. “It’s just not the same.”
Coleman’s experience is just one small piece of evidence pointing to a rebound in business travel. Airlines’ early fears that videoconference applications such as Zoom, Teams, and Skype might keep lucrative business travelers home permanently are subsiding as governments ease border restrictions and executives rediscover the commercial value of human contact. Data from four top companies that manage corporate travel show that two years after Covid-19 pushed aviation to the brink, premium-class cabins are filling up again. The pessimists “were wrong,” says Andrew Crawley, chief commercial officer for American Express Global Business Travel, the industry leader. “Business travelers are coming back.”
Read More…
Report: Apollo considering IPO for Dallas-based ClubCorp
New York-based Apollo Global Management Inc. is weighing an initial public offering as early as this year for Dallas-based country club operator ClubCorp, according to a story by Bloomberg.
Bloomberg sites people familiar with the matter. Apollo took ClubCorp private in 2017. the country club operator it took private in 2017, according to people familiar with the matter.
According to sources who asked not to be identified, the private equity firm is working with advisers on a process for the company. The company could be valued at about $4.5 billion in an IPO, one of the people said.
According to data compiled by Bloomberg, Apollo paid about $1.1 billion for ClubCorp, excluding debt. No final decision has been made, and the timing or valuation of the listing could change, sources said.
Luxury investment trends and 2022 predictions
How did your market perform in 2021?
Sotheby’s posted record sales of US$7.3 billion in 2021, while Christie’s recorded a five-year high of US$7.1 billion. According to our All Art Index, average sales were up 13% since 2020, with much of the new ground made up by a handful of big-ticket works. Many of the top lots could be found in the US$676 million sale of Harry and Linda Macklowe’s fabulous art collection at Sotheby’s, sparked by the couple’s divorce. Several blue-chip artist records were set, including Jackson Pollock’s Number 17, which achieved US$61.2 million, and Cy Twombly’s Untitled, which went for US$58.9 million.
Fashion schools are decolonising the curriculum. Good news for luxury brands?
As academics rework their approach to teaching fashion history, an emerging generation of industry professionals — and consumers — has a more critical perspective on fashion heritage. Western luxury brands should welcome the process.
For generations of fashion students, the lives and creative work of designers such as Christian Dior, Coco Chanel and Yves Saint Laurent have exerted a powerful fascination, in turn reinforcing the dominance of a white and Western-driven fashion narrative. However, many fashion schools and colleges, inspired by their Gen Z students, are now rethinking their remit. A process of decolonising the curriculum is underway, with far-reaching implications for the luxury sector in the years ahead.
Read More…
Heritage-listed home of Burberry and Atlassian gets $16.6m facelift
The heritage-listed home of luxury label Burberry and IT giant Atlassian at 343 George Street is set for a $16.6 million facelift by the City of Sydney, as part of its ongoing program to revitalise its property portfolio.
Sitting at the western end of the city, the 11-storey tower bookends Martin Place, which is also undergoing a transformation from being the traditional heart of the city, when the Reserve Bank was operative, to a public palazzo.
Why so many country clubs are undertaking massive capital-improvement projects
There's beach volleyball, a soccer field, basketball courts, batting cages, tennis (obviously), pickleball, bocce, a pool with a “splash zone” for kids, a pool with an island in the middle, and two lap pools so that you can swim without interruption while listening to music through the underwater speakers. There’s an AMF bowling alley with arcade games like air hockey and pinball. Around the corner there’s a wall-to-wall Lego area and a “dream room” where overstimulated kids are snoozing, a 23-seat movie theater with a fully stocked snack bar, steam rooms, TV rooms and wine cellars for storing and sampling.
“When you look at most country clubs, they do have a lot of amenities these days,” says Mike Orosco, general manager of Santa Barbara’s Montecito Club, which has all of those activities as well as a Jack Nicklaus-designed golf course overlooking the Pacific Ocean. “But we’ve really taken it to the nth degree here.”
Rich Russians Spend Big on Luxury to Stop Savings Melting Away
As sanctions take their toll, Russia’s wealthy are turning to luxury jewellery and watches in a bid to preserve the value of their savings
LVMH Acquired Tiffany & Co. for $15.8 Billion — And Now They're Going After This Iconic Brand
VMH is on a mission to modernize some of the world's most luxurious brands. Luxury giant LVMH is reportedly toying with the idea of a Ralph Lauren acquisition, according to news site Axios, which cited sources familiar with the matter.
Per Axios's sources, brand founder Ralph Lauren, who has headed the company since its 1967 launch and currently serves as chief creative officer and executive chairman, has begun to plan for his succession. The European-headquartered powerhouse and U.S. fashion retailer have reportedly been discussing a potential acquisition for the past couple of years.
Luxury Turns From Conspicuous To Conscientious In 2021: Challenges And Opportunities Ahead
As 2021 dawns, the effects of the 2020 global Covid-19 pandemic will bring profound and lasting changes to the luxury market and present a whole new set of challenges for luxury brands. Unprecedented may be an overused term, but it is the only word to describe 2021 after the troubles of 2020.
It was the year the global personal luxury goods market imploded, losing €64 billion ($79 billion) in sales resulting in a 23% decline. That is the greatest year-over-year drop recorded in the nearly 25 years Bain & Company tracked the luxury market. Even in the 2008-2009 recession years, global luxury sales declined less than 10% and that over a two-year period.
Global luxury retailer migrates to mobile POS
Bally is replacing a legacy POS system with a mobile-enabled solution.
The Swiss luxury brand, which offers shoes, bags, accessories, and ready-to-wear fashion, is replacing its current POS systems with the Oracle Retail Xstore platform across 18 countries. By leveraging mobile Oracle technology, Bally intends its associates to have easy access to the data which will help them understand customer preferences better.
In addition, Bally seeks to enable store associates to move freely and be able to help customers find the merchandise they are seeking—in-store or online—and check out with ease.
The wealthy are lining up to join private clubs for remote work and safe socializing
Forget about going back to the office. America's hottest club is the private club.
Memberships have long been sought after by A-listers and the wealthy. But in the wake of isolating pandemic lockdowns and the rise of remote work, Americans' desire to join exclusive social groups is hitting a new peak.
Applications are up and waitlists for popular spots across the country are growing longer as more people seek socialization in elite communities from Los Angeles to Austin that provide everything from golf courses to social networking opportunities to an alternative office.
The Social Media Industry Report 2021: Luxury Brands
The Social Media Industry Report 2021: Luxury Brands examines how major luxury brands in categories such as automobiles, beauty, fashion and jewelry fare in social media. This comprehensive report compares top luxury brands such as Prada, Tesla, and Bulgari, across several metrics—social mentions, reach, awareness, and net sentiment—and provides industry insights and specific brand examples by segment.
See the ranking of top luxury brands in various segments including automobiles, fashion, jewelry, and eCommerce
Learn how current industry trends are being discussed over social media.
Read specific insights and stories on brands that make the list – including do’s, don’ts, and other insights to inspire your brand.
Managing partner Lydia Jett on SoftBank’s vision of fashion’s future
In the last three months, Japanese investment giant SoftBank has poured hundreds of millions of dollars into fashion companies like Vuori, Vestiaire Collective, LTK and Zepeto.
The investments are united by two threads, according to Lydia Jett, managing partner at SoftBank Investment Advisers: For one, they’re all companies at the forefront of their categories. Vestiare Collective, valued at $1.7 billion, is one of the biggest resale companies in the world. and Zepeto, with 2 million active users just three years post-launch, is a rapidly growing metaverse fashion company. Plus, they all have a “significant tech advantage,” Jett said.
Personalizing Digital Engagement Could Save Luxury Fashion
Importance of switching to online is becoming abundantly clear — sales of apparel and footwear are set to shrink by 27 to 30 percent in 2020 year-on-year. Brands are realising the need to become more present in the digital spaces. LVMH reported a significant increase in online sales during the first quarter of this year, and Zara-owner, Inditex, a surge of 95 percent in April; while U.S. brand Diane von Furstenberg is transferring to a digital-only model.
Read More…
The Top 20 Most Exclusive Golf And Country Clubs In America Honored With Platinum Status
There are some things that money can't buy. Membership to one of the world's most exclusive golf and country clubs is the most sought-after privilege for the rich and famous, and yet it is nearly impossible for the wealthy to become members. And if you are a mere mortal, don't even think about playing at the top private clubs; you may certainly never get invited to join or afford the extravagant initiation fees and dues.
The 2021-2022 Platinum Clubs® of the America winners represent the standard of Excellence for the finest Private Golf & Country Clubs around the globe and were selected by thousands of Golf & Country Clubs. (Country Clubs are defined as offering a wide variety of amenities in addition to Golf and includes Residential Communities.)
Luxury brands gear up to deal with massive inventory problem
Luxury brands are facing a significant drop in demand in key markets just as Spring/Summer 2020 collections hit stores, with inventory buildup now looking inevitable.The proportion of products on sale is already up from last year; luxury brands wanting to protect brand equity will face hard decisions over discounting.Brands that have not developed cross-seasonal products due to the demands of the fashion calendar are the most exposed.
Communicating in Crisis: Fashion Brands Deepen Digital Engagement Amid COVID-19 Era
We shine the light on fashion brands who have embraced digital innovation during the virus outbreak. From live-streaming and augmented reality e-commerce to launching new apps and video games, these fashion brands have turned to virtual reality to engage with customers during lockdown.
Member Attrition at Private Clubs
Existing member retention in the Private Club Industry is even more challenging that new member recruitment. They are invariably due to a string of factors, commencing with increased monthly dues, inability to meet member aspirations and lack of adequate engagement. Attrition rates average around 6 to 8% for Golf and Country clubs and can range as high as 12 to 14% in City and Yacht clubs.
Platinum Club Members Represent Global 0.1%
Platinum club members are the most sought after demographic of affluent, wealthy, rich and famous, representing the sample size of 0.1% of global population of 7.5 million households. In 2015, 0.1% of the US households have an average household income of $3.98 Million, while the 0.01% are at $31.62 million.
Global Luxury Industry Market has been Booming since a Decade
With the income gradient across demographics seeing a dramatic shift and the advancement in the technologically aided strategies, the global luxury industry has become more visible that what it was two decades back.
Luxury Goods Companies Double Sales Growth
The world’s 100 largest luxury goods companies generated sales of US$ 217 billion in FY2017. Multiple luxury goods companies’ double sales growth and lead profitability. Almost half of luxury purchases are made by consumers who are travelling either in a foreign market (31%) or while at the airport (16%). This proposition rises to 60 % amongst consumers from emerging markets, who typically do not have access to the same range of products and brands that can be found in more mature markets.
Marketing Spend by Corporates on the Rise
Larger companies are increasing marketing spend. For the third consecutive year marketing budgets have increased and companies large companies with greater than$5 billion revenue, spend 13% of their revenue on marketing. Marketing budgets continued their steady ascent in 2016, climbing to 12% of company revenue, according to the Gartner 2016-2017 CMO Spend Survey.
A Walkthrough of the Private Club Industry
The history of private clubs is more than just the history of America’s affluent looking for ways to display and enjoy their wealth. It’s a history that traces its origins to the coffeehouses of 17th century London. Coffee was introduced in 1652 and it wasn’t long before it became a raging success. Soon after, coffeehouses became the place to meet and discuss current events. Contributed By Rathan Kumar.
Golf Courses and Country Clubs Generate $24 Billion in Revenue
The last five years since 2018, the Golf Course and Country Club industry has struggled to perform at historical levels. It is due to waning interest in golf among all but its eldest target demographic. Aggressive development resulted in some course closures during this period, but the long-term challenges concern how the Golf Courses and Country Club industry will broaden the sport’s appeal to new players.
Spend by Corporate on Sponsorships reaches $62.8 Billion in 2017
Corporate spend in sponsorship to association and memberships organizations, which private clubs belong to is expected to rise by 2.2% to $617 million as against the overall sponsorship spend of $23.2 billion. Corporates spend on Sponsorships worldwide was expected to reach $62. 8 Billion in 2016.
![pg29[1].jpg](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ed0bf57477f381730b4e417/1591087001417-U5CXQU2BOPLD5NJ1LX9L/pg29%5B1%5D.jpg)
Blue skies as Private Jet travel reaches near pre-COVID levels in July
Helped by CARES Act funds that enabled private jet operators to quickly ramp up, skeleton-like airline schedules, new pricing programs, and concerns about exposure to COVID-19 aboard packed airplanes, private flights have returned to near-normal levels. That’s despite the fact corporate travel by existing customers has dropped. Both Part 135 charter and Part 91k fractional operators saw higher 2020 flight totals on four of the first seven days in July, according to data from Argus. At the same time, TSA statistics showed airline passenger counts 73% below the same period in 2019.
Technology Required by UHNW Investors is More Sophisticated
According to a Forbes and Temenos study, about 87% of wealthy people accept technology as part of their investing experience, up from 74% in 2016. "Wealthy individuals are willing to pay a steep premium for really smart and likable people, and they won't walk away from that just because of technology," says Gerd Leonhard, a futurist who advises wealth managers on their digital and service offerings.
Vogue Business: Live streaming, Luxury’s new tech gamble
Luxury e-tailer Moda Operandi will debut a new video shopping feature, Moda Live, this week with a 30-minute live stream hosted by designer Johanna Ortiz, showcasing her Resort collection of party dresses from her Colombian base.
LVMH, Kering, and The New Luxury Strategy Post-COVID-19
Both leading luxury groups, LVMH and Kering, released their half-year results last week. In both cases, the numbers were bleak, with revenues and profits falling by double digits.
Gucci owner sees online leading recovery after sales plunge
Fashion conglomerate Kering is seeing signs of a recovery led by online sales after pandemic-induced lockdowns hit the previously runaway demand for the Gucci owner’s clothing.
Relationship Goals: Luxury Retail And Technology Make A Perfect Combo For Customer
The end-goal of every good product or service is to meet a need but that need may not necessarily be physical. Luxury brands are most sought after for emotional satisfaction. They pander to the consumer’s emotion and create a feeling of prestige.
How Technology Is Helping Luxury Fashion Brands Gain Traction
Luxury fashion houses such as Chanel and Balmain are particularly attuned to this moment, as the progression of technology promises to imbue delivering excellent customer service as well as a luxurious shopping experience. More to the point, popular fashion luxury brands have raked in billions of dollars in revenue with the aide of technological advancements.
The Top 50 Most Exclusive Yacht Clubs In The World Honored With Platinum Status
The rich and famous are not merely looking for the best place to anchor their yachts; they are also seeking out exclusive memberships in stunning destinations, all offering luxury amenities and, of course, bragging rights.
Transforming The Luxury Industry For The New Normal
As with most businesses, the luxury industry has felt the severe impact of the pandemic. There have been steep declines in sales across regions all over the globe due to mandatory store closures and reduced foot traffic. If this continues, some independent brands will likely struggle just to stay afloat, which could eventually lead to a wave of mergers and acquisitions that would change the face of the luxury industry.
The Future Of Luxury, Post-Coronavirus
The definition of luxury has been consistent for a long time: products made of the finest materials, priced at the top of the market, conspicuous in their quality, often with the brand identity visible, conveying apparent status and sold only in high service venues. Those products are still considered luxurious but what consumers want now has changed in ways that affect the luxury market directly. As we contemplate life-after-shutdown, the luxury business is going to change accordingly. It’s not that the products considered luxury in the past won’t be in the future, it’s that they will face new and more competition for luxury consumer spending.
Luxury Brands Are Exiting 2020 With A Wealth Of Covid Lessons Learned
The market for personal goods and experiential luxury will have contracted by EUR1tn come the end of this month, Bain estimates. In this context, for which there was “no lookbook”, flexibility and agility emerged as the key differentiating capabilities. Here are seven conclusions they drew.
Luxury Line Printfresh Mastered The Pandemic Uniform Of Chic And Cozy Pajamas
Until about a year ago, the most worn item in your closet may have been broken-in jeans, a dress that made you feel pulled together or heels that have seen many miles. But once the pandemic hit, suddenly the only thing being rotated in many wardrobes was loungewear. With so many people working from home—and doing pretty much everything else from home—getting dressed up felt as foreign as weekend getaways.
12.20.2020 - How Luxury Fashion And Lifestyle Brands Can Leverage Technology In 2021 - Forbes
As time goes by, it’s becoming more evident than ever before, that any brand not leveraging technology will be left behind. In a word, the aesthetic universal codes in business strategy have drastically transformed. For instance, in 2020, with the onset of COVID-19; the need for businesses to reach consumers from home- without an in-person experience, is a testament to the luxury fashion (metamorphosis) period the industry is experiencing first hand.
This year, the first-ever remote fashion week, was not only relevant but rather a strong indicator of how the consumer has now been elevated to an editor-by filtering their own taste and curiosity— by streaming fashion shows.
Louis Vuitton Partners with JD.com to Expand E-Commerce in China
French luxury giant Louis Vuitton has partnered with JD.com to further its e-commerce reach in the China market, but will not sell its products via JD.com’s platform.
It seems JD.com, in order to compete with Alibaba-owned Tmall’s dominant Luxury Pavilion, is getting creative in its efforts to attract luxury partners and has worked out a model in which customers that type “LV” into the JD app search bar are redirected to Louis Vuitton’s official WeChat mini-programme where a full range of the brand’s products are available to purchase.
05.13.21 - Pent-Up Luxury Demand Keeps LVMH On Top Of The World’s Largest Apparel Companies - Forbes
One year after the pandemic brought a halt to in-person shopping, crowds are lining up outside of Louis Vuitton stores to buy $4,000 handbags in the U.S. and abroad. If the restored hype is any indication, makers of luxury apparel are set to enjoy a lucrative year of post-Covid pent-up demand.
Private Clubs Gain Members
Kristen Gillman wants her quiet afternoons at her club back.
"I always joke with my dad," the LPGA Tour pro said prior to the U.S. Women's Open at Champions Golf Club, "that people need to go back to their own workplace so I can start doing my job, too! And have more of the course to myself."
Whether you’re playing on a muni or at the best club in town, the COVID-19-induced phenomenon of “work from anywhere” led to stacked tee sheets and crowded driving ranges. The National Golf Foundation reports that rounds played in the U.S. are up by 50 million year-over-year — a remarkable statistic that factors in spring shutdowns that canceled up to 20 million rounds.
The Future of Luxury: Bouncing Back from Covid-19
Our 2020 Luxury Goods Worldwide Market Study outlines the pandemic’s drastic impact on the industry and points to a path to recovery. Covid-19 caused an unprecedented fall in luxury market size. The 19th edition of the Bain Luxury Study, published by Bain & Company for Fondazione Altagamma, the trade association of Italian luxury goods manufacturers, analyzed recent developments in the global luxury goods industry, as well as its future outlook.
Pent-Up Luxury Demand Keeps LVMH On Top Of The World’s Largest Apparel Companies
One year after the pandemic brought a halt to in-person shopping, crowds are lining up outside of Louis Vuitton stores to buy $4,000 handbags in the U.S. and abroad. If the restored hype is any indication, makers of luxury apparel are set to enjoy a lucrative year of post-Covid pent-up demand.
LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton—the 70-brand empire including Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior and Givenchy—just hit record sales this quarter. According to the luxury giant’s most recent earnings report, its Fashion & Leather Goods division revenue surpassed $8 billion. Citigroup analyst Thomas Chauvet predicted in a research note published March 26 that LVMH sales would grow this year “in light of strong luxury data points out of China and the U.S.”
Luxury Goods Sales Returning To Pre-COVID Levels, Bain Says
Sales of luxury goods could rebound from the effects of the coronavirus as early as this year, thanks to shoppers in the U.S. and China, according to a new report from the consultancy Bain & Company.
“Bain now sees a 30 percent probability that sales of high-end handbags, clothes and jewellery will return to or exceed their 2019 level of 280 billion euros ($340 billion) this year, depending on how quickly vaccines are rolled out and tourism picks up,”
Private Club Communities Enjoy Covid-Era Comeback
If someone had set out to invent a period, an age, a time ideally suited to a resurgence of private club communities, they couldn’t have done better than creating the Covid-19 era. The strictures the pandemic imposed on Americans quickly spurred renewed interest in private club communities, which offer secure, fully-serviced environments.
They are often close enough to population centers to enable safe travel there by car but sufficiently removed from urban density to allow for social distancing.
Luxury Sales Need To Be Personal. The Same Applies For Online
Imagine the perfect store experience. You walk into a store, and are greeted by your name. The salesperson you have been interacting with, knowing your size, preferences and personal style, selects a choice of items for you to try on. You have a question about something, the answer is found immediately. You want your items delivered to your home so you don’t have to carry your purchases around with you, it’s seamlessly arranged. In luxury, the personal touch matters.
Which is why, when considering the online experience, the same standard applies. While online sales only account for around 20 percent of revenues, around 80 to 90 percent of offline sales are influenced by online behaviour. Now once again, picture in your mind the online experience of a luxury brand. Do the two experiences match?
Luxury is culture now. Here’s how
Vetements has teased a rebrand as a platform for young talent. Gucci spotlighted 15 emerging brands including Collina Strada and Bianca Saunders at November’s GucciFest film festival. Saint Laurent recently teamed up with Bang & Olufsen, Baccarat and JL Coquet on a lifestyle product series.
Luxury brands no longer sell just their brand. In a new era of consumer expectation for shared values, brands are curating platforms to function as tastemakers to extend their own brand halo into the wider cultural world.
Creative collaborations are springing up around the industry – Alexander McQueen’s sub-label McQ and the relaunched John Paul Gaultier where drops with external creatives rather than one creative director dictate the season’s look; and Gucci and Balenciaga recently linked up for their collections the past two seasons, featuring signature designs in each other’s shows.
Payal Kadakia’s ClassPass Acquired By Wellness Giant Mindbody
Mindbody, one of the leading wellness technology platforms, has acquired ClassPass, a monthly subscription service providing access to the an extensive network of fitness and wellness experiences. Founded by Payal Kadakia in 2013, ClassPass was the original fitness aggregator and the first to recognize consumers’ increasing desire to add variety, such as that provided by independent boutique studios, into their regular fitness regimens. This deal will bring two of the wellness industry’s most prominent leaders together, creating a one-stop-shop for both business owners and consumers.
From a Space Walk to Dinner at an Italian Palace: 25 Out-of-This-World Experiences That Make Unforgettable Gifts
One of the key lessons many of us learned during lockdown was how important shared experiences and personal interactions are to our well-being and quality of life. Another was that it’s possible we have too much stuff. In the spirit of those two revelations, Robb Report has compiled the ultimate list of giftable experiences, which treat recipients (and anyone they’d like to bring along) to incredible—and, in several cases, one-of-a-kind—activities around the globe. From a private island buyout in the Indian Ocean and an olive oil-themed adventure through Jordan to the chance to have the world’s best bar pop-up in your home, here are 25 experiences that will create a lifetime of memories—and help keep the clutter to a minimum.
Billionaire Economy Is Booming With Private Jets in Short Supply
Demand for superyachts, mansions, and planes is soaring, driven by cheap debt and rising wealth. Bombardier’s Global 5500 has a top speed of 594 miles per hour and can fly nonstop from Los Angeles to Moscow.
Available for about $45 million, the twin-engine jet can easily touch down on tricky airfields and accommodate a dozen or so passengers. Michael Spencer, the billionaire NEX Group founder, got one this year. He’s one of the lucky few to snag a new jet as private aircraft makers strain to keep up with record demand from the burgeoning ranks of the ultra-rich.
“The market is in a position where it has never been before,” said Christopher Marich, co-founder of MySky, an online management platform for jet owners. “For every aircraft out there, there’s two or three buyers for popular models.”
Bain x Altagamma Luxury Report: Luxury Has Fully Returned
COVID-19 has acted as an accelerator for digitization, with online shopping jumping by 50 percent between 2019 to 2020 and growing further by 27 percent in 2021, year-on-year.
Luxury should continue to focus on pop-up stores, special collaborations, and drop sales because millennials and Gen Zers will increasingly account for a bigger proportion of luxury consumption.
The second-hand luxury market, valued at $38 billion, is now also worth luxury’s attention, as it is growing more than twice as fast as first-hand luxury.
The wealthy are lining up to join private clubs for remote work and safe socializing
Forget about going back to the office. America's hottest club is the private club. Memberships have long been sought after by A-listers and the wealthy. But in the wake of isolating pandemic lockdowns and the rise of remote work, Americans' desire to join exclusive social groups is hitting a new peak.
Applications are up and waitlists for popular spots across the country are growing longer as more people seek socialization in elite communities from Los Angeles to Austin that provide everything from golf courses to social networking opportunities to an alternative office.
What is luxury in the metaverse?
NFTs are a sort of digital collectible. If you know the term, you know the hype, even if you don’t understand it. If you don’t know the term, you will soon. It’s all complicated now, but so was the internet in 1994.
Benoit Pagotto is cofounder of RTFKT, a studio that makes virtual sneakers and other items sold as NFTs. When he thinks What the Future, he’s wondering if there are limits to what he and the NFT community are building and guessing that the answer is: no.
A Shifting Society - Leading the Way Out of COVID
As the coronavirus continues well into its second year of existence, businesses and individuals are making significant decisions to adjust to today’s sentiments and prepare for the future. These moves range from small (eating out) to large (moving to a less populated area). MOVING AROUND COVID-19, in conjunction with remote work opportunities, is triggering new migration plans for millions of Americans. A recent study by Upwork found that 14 to 23 million Americans are planning to move because of greater work from home (WFH) options—a figure estimated to be three to four times more than normal rates. Between 6.9% and 11.5% of all households are planning a move due to the growing availability of remote work made available by COVID-19.
The Club for Millennials
On the back of GGA's largest piece of millennial research to date, Michael Gregory answers your questions, revealing how the findings paint a clear picture of who clubs need to target in order to build the next generation of members and customers.
For 3 years GGA and Nextgengolf have analyzed the behavior and attitudes of golfing millennials. Armed with the findings of this research, GGA have engaged with clubs and resorts on how to connect with this audience. Unfortunately, for many clubs, this generation still proves elusive. However, with the latest round of research now complete, we have the clearest ever picture of the untapped potential of millennials..
What Makes Data Valuable: The Truth About Data Network Effects
At least once a week I have a pitch meeting with a Founder who says “We’re going to collect a ton of data, it’s going to be really valuable. We’re going to build a data network effect.” Really?
Data is not inherently valuable. Most data doesn’t produce a real data network effect, and most data network effects aren’t that powerful even once established. Consider the idea that your data strategy, in terms of value creation, is overrated. It can be powerful, but it’s typically not. I know that’s a sobering thought. But in order to build a lasting business, we need to understand the realities and nuances of what makes data valuable.
Let’s lay out what’s exciting and real about data defensibilities.
Platinum Clubs® of the World 2022-23
Club Leaders Forum recently announced the official Platinum Clubs of the World, Asia-Pacific, and Europe 2022-2023. Platinum designation is awarded to only the top 1% of clubs worldwide making the distinction a rare and coveted honor. Congratulations to the management, leadership, and staff of all clubs that have achieved Platinum status as you set the standard of excellence for clubs around the world.
Shoppers Are Lining Up at Dawn for the ‘Open Run’ on $9,500 Chanel Bags
Buyers in South Korea are desperate to get their hands on the French brand’s purses in hopes of preempting future price increases. Even during the deepest depths of the pandemic, you wouldn’t see people in South Korea hoarding steaks, toilet paper, or pet food. Instead, they developed another new habit: waiting in lines outside department stores, beginning at 5 a.m., to buy items like a $9,500 Chanel purse.
Post-Crisis, Will All Fashion Events Go Digital?
Events — the lifeblood of many fashion and luxury marketers in recent years — have come to a halt amid the coronavirus pandemic, and are likely to assume a more digital cast in the future. But they are too vital and effective to disappear, and could even become a revenue-generating sideline for some brands, according to marketing educators asked to project how experiential marketing might look in a post-crisis world.
Read More…
Forbes Features the Top 25 Exclusive Golf And Country Clubs in the World Honored With Platinum Status
It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
Clubs Look to Redefine Themselves
Declining memberships in private clubs either due to attrition of the current members and inability to recruit new members result in increased share of dues to the remaining members, leading to a chain reaction. Clubs are compelled to relax their rules, add more family centricity programs, restructuring fees and even resorting to selling assets.
Top 0.1% Spend $214 Billion on Lifestyle and Luxury
Top 0.1% spend $214 billion on Lifestyle and Luxury in 2013. This spend was across Art, Home, Yachting, Jewelry, Cars, Events, Villas, Leisure Hotels, Watches, Cruises, Fashion, Spas/Spa Resorts, Adventure and Wine/ Spirits. Average spend on luxury purchases by a single consumer household belonging to 0.1% demographic in USA is $1.83 Million per annum.
Luxury Market Grows Exponentially
Luxury Market is growing exponentially and brands need to devise alternate marketing strategies to reach and engage the new consumer. The number of luxury consumers worldwide has more than tripled over the past 20 years to 330 million by the end of 2013 and 500 million by end of 2030.
Digital Shopping Drives the Luxury Market
Digital shopping is Transforming Luxury Sales. Online luxury sales to contribute 18% to total sales by 2025, worth $90 (€70) billion annually, making e-commerce the world’s third largest luxury market, after China and the United States. Over 50% of luxury brands spend 30% of their marketing budget on digital marketing.
Network Orchestrators Outperform other Business Models
Network Orchestrators outperform companies with other business models on both compound annual growth rate and profit margin. Fewer than 5% of companies are Network Orchestrators despite the positive impact of this business model on multiple performance measures. First, today’s network-based business models require new technologies and competencies.
Member States
Unique, in its latest edition published about the future of private member clubs. The article talks about the efforts and opportunities in the private club industry and the need to improve their member engagement activities. It also focuses on the changing lifestyle preferences of the private club membership demographic. Originally contributed by Rathan Kumar to UNIQUE.
Club Members Prefer Wider Lifestyle Choices and Programs at the Club
Club Member Demographic & Lifestyle Trends indicate preference for wider lifestyle choices and programs at the club. 92% of respondents for a study carried out National Club Association of America and McMahon Group indicate they would prefer more diverse and open to lifestyle choices as compared with the present choices offered at the club.
Family Centricity is Key for Clubs to Prosper
Only family oriented private clubs will prosper in the future. 89% of respondents for a study carried out National Club Association of America and McMahon Group indicate that family-oriented clubs will prosper in the future. Private clubs are compelled to do a lot more than that of the past and are inadequately resourced to handle the pressure from member expectations in the changing times.
Personalization and Digital Experiential are Top Priorities for Luxury Brands
The essence of luxury is changing from Standardization to Personalization and from Physical Products to Digital Experiential. Premium quality remains a must have and consumers retain a keen eye for craftsmanship and hand-made products. While expansion through globalization would necessitate a one-size-fits all approach, the changing luxury shopper behavior demands a different, more personalized response.
Characteristics of an Aggregator
Aggregators have all three of the following characteristics; Direct Relationship with Users, Zero Marginal Costs For Serving Users and Demand-driven Multi-sided Networks with Decreasing Acquisition Costs. Companies traditionally have had to incur up to three types of marginal costs when it comes to serving users/customers directly. The cost of goods sold, Distribution costs and Transaction costs. Aggregators incur none of these costs.
Silent Luxury to Win in the Post-COVID-19 ‘Next Normal’ Luxury Scenario
First of all, the coronavirus crisis caused a resetting of consumer priorities. For 50 percent of luxury shoppers, luxury now means spending time with loved ones and being safe, rather than purchasing desirable goods. In addition, the research also forecast that shoppers will be more willing to buy sustainable goods from brands that they trust and at local and nearby shops. “Preferences will be directed to those brands offering ‘silent luxury,’ consumers are showing an increased appetite for quality and values, rather than for bling bling products,” said Antonio Achille, global leader of McKinsey’s luxury practice.
How Luxury Is Reinventing Itself
As companies try to ride out the severe economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, certain industries are more badly affected than others. In particular, the luxury sector is likely to take one of the worst hits. Sales for this year’s spring season are 70 percent lower than last year’s. Swiss watch industry exports are expected to decline by 25 percent this year, the biggest drop in half a century. The future of fine dining is also far from certain.
Opinion: Could Virtual Reality Be the Key to Saving Luxury?
Technology can be a great problem-solver, if used with the filter of luxury and fashion knowledge and with the mind open to discoveries and new solutions on the executive side. The luxury industry navigation desk is often not updated enough in order to allow a safe drive into the next exciting chapter of society. And it’s not just a matter of technology, it is a matter of human vision and strategy.
Meet Generation Z: Shaping the future of shopping
The newest consumer generations—Gen Z and millennials—are upturning retailers’ expectations. Here’s how—and what to do about it.
The Global Thermal Scanners Market size is expected to reach $6.7 billion by 2025, rising at a market growth of 10.3% CAGR during the forecast period.
The Thermal Scan Monitoring System is an infrared imaging system designed to perform contact wire thermal imaging. The machine is powerful enough to stand outside a train wagon and has an image frequency that can display the lines at very high speed.
The shift to e-commerce poses a challenge for luxury brands
Luxury consumer behaviour is changing. In the wake of the pandemic, brands are ramping up e-commerce efforts and adapting the in-store experience to make shoppers comfortable. These brands are also addressing a spike in demand in mainland China as luxury shoppers forego typical shopping trips abroad.
The Club Of The Future
The pandemic has tested private club membership to its core. Built on the essence of gatherings, events and social activities, the spring of 2020 challenged preconceptions of what club membership can look like. It also taught the club industry that it needed to become more nimble. Many adapted by bringing the club to its members through virtual connections, food and beverage to go, drive in movies and essential item pantries.
Why luxury concierge tech firms are on a roll
From Toshi to Harper Concierge, a new generation of tech-driven luxury concierge services operating in New York and London have accelerated their development during the Covid-19 crisis. Their founders hope this is only the beginning.
Why Luxury Brands Are Desperate For Digital Desire
Over the years, one predictable customer group bought luxury brand creations all over the world: wealthy, young Chinese consumers. No other consumers around the world have a comparable lifestyle to Chinese digital natives. Massive and fully-integrated social media platforms like WeChat make Facebook and Instagram look like tiny Islands with hardly any functions.
3 Strategies To Grow Your Ecommerce Fashion Brand in 2021
The fashion industry might be dominated by big players, but with the right strategy, smaller companies can still build highly successful brands. In the increasingly competitive world of fashion ecommerce, one thing is certain — the industry is set for meteoric growth. This represents an opportunity for ecommerce fashion brands to knuckle-down and ramp up marketing to capitalize on this growth and enter 2021 in a position of strength. Develop your partnership network.
The Future of Luxury: 6 Trends To Stay Ahead in 2021
Every year brings a long list of predictions and trends popping up in news feeds and inboxes around the world. But this time, perhaps more than any other year, we are all staring at the future, hoping to gain some insights into what our new normal will look like.
The coronavirus pandemic transformed how we live and work in ways we hardly imagined at the beginning of 2020. The global crisis has forced millions of people to develop new ways of working, learning, shopping, and well, living (more frugally). But amid the uncertainties and unknowns brought on by the COVID-19, one thing is clear: the pandemic has permanently changed, deepened, and solidified consumer’s behaviors, creating new imperatives for all luxury brands.
Millennials Are Changing the Luxury Real Estate Market
In sharp contrast to the “slacker” stereotype that has defined their generation, millennials aren’t living in parents’ basements. They’re buying multimillion-dollar homes. At 38%, millennials—adults born from 1981 to 1996—represent the largest share of homebuyers in the U.S., according to a survey by the National Association of Realtors released last year. “They’re just as interested in owning a home. They just waited longer to buy their first one,” says Bradley Nelson, chief marketing officer of Sotheby’s International Realty.
NFTs for fashion are inevitable
Fashion is rarely just about utility. It’s also a means of self-expression and a way to communicate status and identity. With lots of shoppers today seeking ways to signal these attributes in the digital world as much as the physical one, it’s created an opportunity for fashion to go virtual.
Some of the industry’s top luxury brands are ready, and one market they’re likely to break into is non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, the blockchain-backed unique digital assets that have been selling for startlingly high prices in recent weeks.
Luxury Brands Are Helped by a Lack of Other Spending Options
For an industry traditionally dependent on tourism and consumer optimism, many luxury brands have done surprisingly well during the pandemic. A caveat is that shoppers will soon have more choice about where to spend their cash.
The world’s biggest luxury company, LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton , said late Tuesday that sales increased by a remarkable 30% in the three months through March compared with the same period of 2020, stripping out the impact of exchange-rate and portfolio changes. That isn’t just the effect of the pandemic sweeping across the world early last year: LVMH also said its first-quarter sales were up 8% on the same apples-for-apples basis versus the same period of pandemic-free 2019.
05-07-2021 - How Blockchain And Co. Are Going To Change Beauty And Lifestyle For Good - Forbes
The effect of technology, on the beauty and lifestyle industry, has exponentially increased its market share – and then some! As of 2020, the beauty and lifestyle market segmentation has been valued at over $532 billion dollars. Adding over two billion digital buyers to the list, the beauty and lifestyle industry has seemingly reached its golden years. In the coming years, without a shadow of a doubt, the market value is bound to reach new heights.
Private club goes public: Soho House IPO raises $420M
The owner of a network of members’ clubs built on exclusivity is offering up its stock to the masses.
Membership Collective Group, the parent company of the Soho House chain of private clubs, raised $420 million in an initial public offering of 30 million shares Wednesday.
The shares sold at $14 each, the low end of an expected $14 to $16 range, according to Bloomberg. The IPO values the company at around $2.8 billion.
Luxury Consumers Haven’t Gone ‘Post Aspirational,’ Rather They Aspire for Different Things
The phrase “post-aspirational consumers” is catching on in marketing circles, implying that consumers have evolved beyond aspiration as a motivator for purchase. Bain, one of the leading lights in the luxury market, gave the term its official imprimatur describing the “rise of a post-aspirational mindset.”
Farfetch Is Perfectly Positioned For Luxury Market’s Digital Post-Coronavirus Future
In the first quarter 2020 when luxury retail sales were decimated by worldwide COVID-19 shutdowns, Farfetch just announced its revenue increased 90% year-over-year to reach $331 million across its four reporting segments. Farfetch is the global technology platform for the luxury fashion industry.
Further, first-quarter gross merchandise value rose 46% year-over-year to $494.9 million, though its April 2019 acquisition of New Guards, famous for its Off-White brand, added $107.5 million new GMV to the total. Eliminating that, GMV rose a sprightly 19%.
Major Luxury Fashion Brands Are Wooing The $2 Trillion Dollar Crypto Market
Although I don’t write much about breaking news in the luxury industry, by contrast, the crypto market is having a considerable impact on the global supply chain. Surprisingly enough, the fashion industry intends to capitalize on the estimated $2 trillion dollars. Specifically, crypto has transitioned modification standards to the industry. Moving forward, in this feature, my aim is to showcase to you the top brands spearheading the process and the innovative technology that will soon aid their operations with the fashion industry overall.
Why Gucci and Rimowa are cashing in with NFTs – after the digital art boom, luxury brands are next to ride the crypto wave
Digital artist Beeple changed the game by selling an NFT artwork for US$69 million – then Sotheby’s accepted cryptocurrency for a 101-carat diamond at auction
Now you can buy US$12 virtual Gucci trainers while even Rimowa released an NFT artwork – how will the world be reshaped by non-fungible tokens next?
Can Luxury Brands Adapt to a Direct-To-Consumer World?
Three years ago, when Coral Chung and Wendy Wen were gearing up to launch Senreve — a handbag line catered to working professionals — they were urged by advisors, by industry veterans who were experts in the traditional fashion and luxury space to partner with Barneys New York for their debut. "They said, 'That's the only way you're going to get your brand out there,'" Chung recalls. Instead of heeding their advice, the co-founders, determined to do things their own way, opted to take the direct-to-consumer route.
Now, Barneys New York, an iconic institution that was once thought to be an invincible retail force, has fallen after declaring bankruptcy and then being tragically sold for parts like a sad, broken-down car. It's rather alarming how rapidly things have changed in three years — for traditional retailers, at least. It's sent brick-and-mortar establishments into an existential crisis and it's driven many retail experts to firmly believe that the future lies in the power of digitally native direct-to-consumer brands.
Built upon affordability, accessibility, and transparency — three pillars that are embedded in the DNA of these disruptive labels, ranging from mattresses to luggage — does this new digital-savvy, consumer-first retail landscape even have a place for luxury?
The Future of Luxury Travel: 2021 and Beyond
The global pandemic and the influence of social media have had a significant impact on the luxury travel industry, creating a chasm between high net worth (HNW) and ultra-high net worth (UHNW) travelers. HNW individuals are worth between $1 million and $5 million; UHNW individuals are worth $30 million or more. We examined the behaviors, passions, and drives of both cohorts, the future of luxury travel, and why, for the UHNW individual, a holistic lifestyle perspective is the most desirable approach.
Lauren Berger Collection: the woman behind the luxury brand
LUXE magazine readers are familiar with Lauren Berger Collection, as Ms. Berger has been active in the real estate and hospitality business for a few decades. Her superb properties have been reviewed by LUXE magazine and expert travel guides, and the consensus is unanimous: luxury in the hands of Lauren Berger is an exquisite experience. LUXE magazine met with her for a conversation about herself, her business and her inspirations.
State of Fashion 2022: An uneven recovery and new frontiers
In 2022, the fashion industry can return to growth as changing category landscapes, new digital frontiers, and advances in sustainability continue to present opportunities.
After nearly two years of disruption, the global fashion industry is once again finding its feet. Companies are adapting to new consumer priorities, and digital is providing a nexus for growth. Still, the industry faces significant challenges amid supply-chain disruption, patchy demand, and persistent pressure on the bottom line. With the majority of companies struggling to turn a profit, growth will be a key priority in the year ahead.
Metaverse: A $50 Billion Revenue Opportunity for Luxury
Digital demand for fashion and luxury brands is expected to grow from current low levels and result in extra sales for the industry that could reach $50 billion by 2030, according to Morgan Stanley.
“Revenue streams from digital mediums for luxury brands are negligible... We think this is about to change,” strategists at the US investment bank wrote in a note on Tuesday. “The Metaverse will likely take many years to develop; however, NFTs and social gaming (e.g., online games and concerts attended by people’s avatars) present two nearer-term opportunities for luxury brands,” it said.
According to Morgan Stanley, NFTs (non-fungible tokens) and social gaming could expand luxury group’s total addressable market by more than 10 percent in eight years time and boost industry earnings before interest and tax by around 25 percent. Noting how one in five Roblox gamers update their avatars daily, it said luxury brands are exploring a number of collaborations with gaming and Metaverse platforms.
The Deep Dive: “Luxury Car Clients Have Demanded More Immediacy And Pre-Owned As A Result Of The Pandemic.”
Welcome back to The Deep Dive, a new series from Luxury Society that takes an in-depth look at the big issues and topics affecting the luxury market, and how the industry has responded to them. Through a series of interviews, exclusive data, and market analysis, we hope to provide a comprehensive view of each topic explored, adding to the wider discussions with our own expertise and that of others in the industry.
The second part of our report is a series of interviews with leading experts in different segments of the luxury industry such as Luxury Watches and Jewellery, Retail, Automotive, Media and Advertising and Health and Wellness, each taking a deep dive into the current state of the luxury industry today and where each category is headed. We aim to give our readers a deeper understanding and insight into the trends happening in the market through their eyes.
Global Wealth and Lifestyle Report 2021
Which lifestyle, regional and economic trends will impact you and your wealth? Julius Baer’s Global Wealth and Lifestyle Report analyses consumption trends by tracking the price developments of premium goods and services in the Julius Baer Lifestyle Index. This year’s report focuses on how these trends relate specifically to lifestyle, regions and cities, and wealth. Here is a closer look at what you will find in the report:
How is my lifestyle changing? The world’s consumers are becoming more and more conscious, and COVID-19 has accelerated this trend. We explore how the pandemic has raised consumer awareness and commitment to buying ethically and sustainably – changes in behaviour that we believe are likely to endure long after the pandemic.
Why luxury brands are focusing on their Millennial consumers?
Luxury brands are very focused on their affluent Millennial consumers because of the long-term potential they represent. An industry once dominated by middle-aged high-net-worth shoppers is now seeing a new generation of young and affluent consumers: Millennials are the growth engine of the luxury industry and the new power purchasers.
7 Ways Country Clubs and Golf Courses Can Attract and Retain Millennials
There are now more millennials than baby boomers…what are you doing to entice them to try your country club or golf course? Millennials have surpassed baby boomers as the largest generation in America and they are showing to be extremely brand loyal (just look at how many Instagram Influencers there are). This means that many country clubs around the U.S. are now struggling to figure out how to position their clubs to appeal to the younger yet influential millennial generation.
I think most Club general managers would agree with the following statement: If your country club is not able to make necessary changes to start appealing to and attracting the millennial generation, then your club is at serious risk of closing its doors in the next 5 to 10 years.
Assessing BNPL’s Benefits and Challenges
On balance, the benefits are substantial and the risks manageable. Benefits and criticisms of BNPL have emerged on several fronts. On the one hand, these services unlock purchasing power, helping customers manage their finances by accessing affordable, low-cost credit. On the other hand, questions have been raised around their impact on households’ debt loads. But what do consumers and merchants actually experience? To cut through the conjecture, our research shines a brighter light on the advantages and challenges of using this form of payment.
Luxury Brands Are Already Making Millions in the Metaverse
The likes of Gucci, Balenciaga, and Burberry are spinning up fashion and accessories that you'll never even wear. The waiting list for a Birkin bag can stretch years, but for some, the only purse they want is one they’ll never get their hands on. The Dematerialised, a British startup that co-founder Karinna Nobbs calls “the digital department store of your dreams,” sells nothing but virtual luxuries; it’s a marketplace for clothing and accessories that will only ever exist online.
The first piece it brought out, on Dec. 12, 2020, was a silver sweater selling for €121 ($137). Like all of her products since, the whole run—1,212 digital renderings—sold within three hours. Nobbs has also worked with the Fabricant, a Dutch virtual couture house where users create exclusive apparel for their digital avatars on social platforms including VRChat, a 3D digital world that soared in popularity during the pandemic. The Fabricant collaboration scored the priciest sale at her store so far: €9,000 for a single garment—or, more precisely, non garment. The Dematerialised operates on the stock model popularized by streetwear, releasing a shoe, bag, or other items in a limited edition, usually of no more than 150 units. Only a single brand or computer-designed product is available at any one time.
Read More…
The rich are getting richer — and they’re fueling a private jet boom
Private jet demand is booming, and aircraft manufacturers can’t keep pace. Even used jets are disappearing from the market. There’s been a wealth boom, especially among the already-rich, as more companies go public and the stock market hits record highs. Analysts say many newly listed companies are buying their first company jets.
In the United States, business jet take-offs and landings are up 40% year-over-year. They’re at their highest point since before the 2008 financial crisis, partly driven by the pandemic as big companies expanded private jet privileges for their top executives.
But the market is attracting individuals too, whether they’re executives, start-up founders or lucky crypto investors with their first hundred million looking for a new toy with a high price tag.
Luxury market rebounds in 2021, set to return to historic growth trajectory
Flourishing China market, surging local spending in the US and strength of online channel allow industry to return to 2019 levels faster than expected. The personal luxury goods industry has come roaring back, experiencing a V-shaped recovery in 2021. After a sharp contraction in 2020, the personal luxury goods market grew by 29% at current exchange rates to hit EUR 283 billion, increasing the size of the market by 1% versus 2019 levels. For the future, Bain & Company estimates that the personal luxury goods market could reach EUR 360-380 billion by 2025 with a sustained growth of 6-8% annually.
The overall luxury market—encompassing both wider luxury goods and experiences—are still below 2019 levels, reaching approximately EUR 1.1 trillion, with a shift from experiences to goods and experience-based goods compensating for just half of the gap versus 2019.
MobiCom aggregates a global private club network enabling reputed brands to complement the luxury lifestyle of this affluent network. Founded in 2015, by Rathan Kumar, MobiCom curates exclusive experiences and privileges catering to the world's most affluent.