As detailed in Retail & Brand Comms: Look Ahead 2024, consumers now view their possessions as ‘assets’ to resell, trade or swap. The appetite for pre-loved goods – where commercial savvy dovetails with sustainability – is especially well-documented (see Key Stats). But unlike mainstream recommerce, luxury success stories will be couched in connoisseurship; think archival allure, collecting communities and intellectual equity. 

Next-gen technologies are transforming IRL luxury activations into experiential feats, elevating brand storytelling; according to Bain & Co. 2023, new breeds of tech-fuelled activities, including the metaverse but also branded media content, will drive an additional €60–€120 billion/$63-$126bn in luxury sales by 2030. Think: heritage-massaging ultra-exhibitions, multisensory VR and ‘virtualised VM’.

Responding to accelerating luxury resales (see Key Stats) and the scarcity-squashing omnipresence of social media, new spaces conferring exclusivity are encouraging full-price sales. Invite-only stores, elite membership programmes encompassing exclusive ‘wine and dine’ experiences, and hangouts dedicated to the pursuit of investment passions (replete with experts), are reclaiming luxury’s inner sanctum.

Globally, Gen Z and (in time) Gen Alpha luxury spending is growing three times faster than other generations (set to constitute 33% of the market by 2030), and they’re already buying luxury goods at a younger age – 15 years, versus the 18-20 of their millennial predecessors (Bain & Company, 2022). This luxury youthquake will reward brands accommodating self-expressive luxe, mentorship-including subscriptions, and co-steered community.

The post-pandemic fetishisation of health (the global wellness tourism market hit >$814bn in 2022, and that figure’s expected to rise 12.42% by 2030 –LLM, 2023) is putting wellbeing and self-care on an even higher pedestal for self-optimisation-desiring affluents. Retail opportunities abound, from supercharged mixed-reality skincare experiences, to VIP vitamin concept stores and longevity-tapping beauty flagships. 

Elite brands must increasingly hitch themselves to progressive aspirations. According to Alexandra van Bastelaer, strategy manager at Danish marketing/creative agency Mano, “Only 40% of luxury brands have overcome their fear of consumers as critics […] forgetting to magnify a better future, which is critical to making emotional connections”. From flagships to collabs, future-forward appeal is becoming imperative.  

Thanks to new gaming design tools, the elevated aesthetics of luxury brands are now replicable in the metaverse (detailed further in Moving the Metaverse On: Future-Proofing Brand Strategies). With 70% of metaverse-aware US consumers interested in buying luxury products virtually, particularly millennials (76%), Gen Zers (69%) and Gen Xers (67%), it’s a key territory for luxury brands to master.

With under 50% of luxury customers globally satisfied with shopping for luxury online (compared to high approval ratings for store experiences – see Key Stats), exalted ‘clienteling’ initiatives able to deflect digital discontent will win. From phygital desktop studios for jewellery show-and-tells, to AI-enabled full-look styling tools delivering seamless store-to-home connections, new technologies are already delivering.