Dive Brief:
- For the holidays, 82% of the luxury consumers who are celebrating plan to spend the same or more than they did last year, according to a Saks Luxury Pulse survey released Tuesday. That number is up since 2023, when 75% of luxury shoppers said they planned to increase their spending over the prior year.
- According to the quarterly report, 65% of luxury consumers “plan to spend the same or more on luxury in the next three months compared to the prior three months,” up 8 percentage points over the same period last year. Meanwhile, 48% of luxury consumers are optimistic about the economy, up 12 percentage points year over year, and 52% said they feel calm about the economy, up 2 percentage points from last year.
- In terms of their personal finances, 70% of luxury consumers said they felt optimistic, up 6 percentage points over last year, while 68% said they feel calm, up 1 percentage point over last year. Luxury customers in the combined Baby Boomer and Silent Generations saw their optimism increase 13 percentage points over last year, and their calmness rise 5 percentage points year over year.
Dive Insight:
Luxury consumers are looking forward to the holidays this year, according to the Saks survey, which said high-end customers expressed an “increased intention to dress up, travel and buy gifts for themselves and others.”
The prediction is a sharp contrast to last year, according to a January report from Earnest Analytics, which said luxury spending dropped 10% over the 2023 holidays, potentially indicating that shoppers were seeking “attainable value.”
Currently, the sector is experiencing an overall rough stretch that began to hit luxury apparel just before the 2023 holidays and continued throughout the season, with companies including Burberry reporting slumping sales in January following a weak December.
Many of this year’s predicted spending numbers from Saks are higher than a similar report from the firm last year, and Emily Essner, Saks’ chief marketing officer, said in Tuesday’s release that the company was “pleased to see the increased enthusiasm around this year’s holiday shopping season.”
In addition to projecting an increased spend, the Saks Luxury Pulse also indicated that luxury consumers plan to start shopping earlier and spend more online.
Seventy percent of luxury consumers surveyed said they planned to begin this year’s holiday shopping before Thanksgiving, up 14 percentage points from last year, which Saks attributed to a shorter holiday shopping season. Millennials said they planned to start slightly later than Generation X, Baby Boomer and Silent Generation respondents.
Convenience and crowd avoidance will also drive 70% of millennial customers online, and 64% of overall luxury consumers to e-commerce platforms, per the survey. Home decor and fine jewelry luxury consumers said they still prefer in-person shopping, though, which Saks noted underscores “the importance of a seamless cross-channel experience.”
In terms of gifting, 85% of luxury consumers said they planned to give something to someone else during the holidays, with 42% saying that gift would be a luxury item. Meanwhile, 61% said they also planned to get something for themselves, with 58% saying their self-purchase would be a luxury item.
The Saks Luxury Pulse is a quarterly online survey that offers insights into luxury consumers’ attitudes regarding shopping, spending and the economy. It’s based on responses from 1,196 U.S.-based luxury consumers aged 18 and older, and was fielded from Oct. 11 to Oct. 15.
