Luxury and on-line

In its annual edition of Luxury Market Monitor, Bain & Company have identified 7 future macro trends for luxury. The fact that consumers are predicted to be mainly attracted by on-line sales, even in regard to luxury goods, particularly stands out.

In fact, in 2018, the retail channel grew by 4%, while the wholesale channel only increased by 1%, penalized by a slow upturn in sales at department and multi-brand stores which are suffering from strong on-line competition.

On-line shopping for luxury goods has continued to accelerate in 2018 compared to physical channels with a 22% increase compared to 2017, reaching 27 billion Euros. In the United States, this market represented half of on-line sales (44%), while Asia is emerging as the channel’s new growth driver, followed by Europe.

What luxury goods are being bought? Accessories are the main items sold on-line, ahead of clothing, while the cosmetics and perfume sector, as well as that of jewellery and watches, are both rising.

Sales made on brands’ own direct on-line channels are catching up with other on-line players with 31% compared to e-tailer (39%) and retailer.com (30%).