Young And Luxurious
Insights on how young affluent consumers shop today and how to connect with them
It’s no secret that the average luxury shopper is getting younger. As much as 85% of the industry’s 5% growth in 2017 was fueled by millennials and Gen-Z. These “kids” today spend an average of 2 hours 43 minutes a day on social networks and messaging services; and that’s where they do most of their shopping research.
Threads Styling is one of the platforms that sell luxury fashion to ultra-wealthy twenty-somethings from around the world the same way they are used to chatting with their friends: via social media messaging platforms like WhatsApp, Snapchat, Instagram, and WeChat. Swipe up a recent Instagram Story posted by Threads called “Fresh Fendi Finds,”, you are connected to one of its personal stylists: “Hello! I would love to help you with this inquiry,” a live chat begins. “It’s something really personal and really digital and how you can go beyond e-commerce,” said founder Sophie Hill. The company profits from commissions and does not hold inventory.
“One thing we find that sets Gen Z apart from our other customers is their openness to try new designers; they’re not brand loyal and instead they look for the right product and design over the designer,” said Elizabeth von der Goltz, global buying director at Net-a-Porter. Tiffany Zhong, the 21-year-old founder of Zebra Intelligence, a Gen-Z consumer insights platform, agreed: “For them, luxury is stuff that’s scarce or stuff that others don’t have: limited edition items. Gen Z cares about being unique.”