Luxury Institute has done a survey of wealthy consumers to find the current status of the luxury market and study the emerging trends. The study has come to the conclusion that the coming three years will witness only marginal growth. It has recommended that emphasizing company values and a focus on customer service and social media is the way forward for the luxury brands. The institute feels that Zappos, the largest online shoe retailer has caught on to the current trend.
The luxury brands are witnessing sharp growth in China but the US, Japan and Europe markets are more or less stagnant. The report observes that the public companies have performed better than the privately owned brands. The report keeps coming back to the Zappos success story and concludes that the culture of the company, its stress on service with a 24×7 call centre claiming the best service in the industry has given it customer loyalty and a much higher growth than the industry average.
Another important trend the report highlights is that the customer relations policies are changing and in place of arrogant sales staff companies are looking for product experts who can build relationships with the customer. Affluent customers want live customer assistance even while shopping online. The purchase is abandoned if the assistance is not available.
Via: independent
