Luxury Institute News

June 11, 2013

Wealthy to spend less on luxury items they don’t need

Posted in Fashion,Food & Beverage,Luxury Market,Retail,Travel & Leisure,WealthSurvey
Tags: Milton Pedraza, Pentamillionaires —

By Angela Johnson
CNN Money
June 10, 2013

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — The improving economy isn’t going to spur a mad dash to luxury stores among the U.S.’s wealthiest shoppers, a new survey shows.

Wealthy consumers are expected to cut back on spending on non-essential items during the second half of the year; seeking products and experiences that hold more value instead, according to a survey released Wednesday by the Luxury Institute.

Of the more than 500 “pentamillionaires” — those with a net worth of $5 million or more — surveyed, more than 80% say luxury goods, such as jewelry, watches, and handbags, have declined in significance.

“Even among the wealthiest customers, luxury goods and services are considered less important in today’s economy,” said Luxury Institute CEO Milton Pedraza in a statement.

Only 6% of wealthy consumers said they expect to spend more on handbags through the end of the year, while a mere 4% said they will be spending more on watches and jewelry, the survey found. Meanwhile, 33% plan to spend more on travel and 20% said they would spend more on dining out.

“People are less interested in watches and more interested in building lasting memories,” said Pedraza.

Most of the consumers surveyed said they buy luxury goods not to show off, but because they hold value and serve as a reward for personal success. Yet, more than 60% agreed that the prices of luxury brands are too high relative to the product’s value and over half said that they are turned off by products with visible and prominent brand logos.

According to Pedraza, the trend of “less is more” not only applies to handbags; it also applies to basic household items and clothing, such as khakis, socks, and children’s clothes that will soon be outgrown. He said the wealthy have fewer qualms about shopping at discount or big-box stores, retailers that are not normally associated with well-heeled shoppers.

“They buy items at Staples and T.J. Maxx, they buy in bulk at Costco” said Pedraza. “They go to mainstream retailers to save money.”

Survey respondents said their non-luxury spending has increased by almost half, and more than 40% of those surveyed believe that luxury brands are becoming a commodity — that the product doesn’t deliver additional value for the money, and can be easily replaced.

http://wtkr.com/2013/06/10/wealthy-to-spend-less-on-luxury-items-they-dont-need/

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Wealthy to cut back on pricey stuff, spend more on experiences

Posted in Fashion,Food & Beverage,Luxury Market,Travel & Leisure,WealthSurvey
Tags: Luxury Consumer, Milton Pedraza, Pentamillionaires, Retail, Travel —

By Shan Li
Los Angeles Times
June 10, 2013

Wealthy shoppers will refrain from scooping up expensive handbags, shoes and other discretionary items even as the economy recovers and the stock market soars, a study found.

In the second half of 2013, the rich will rein in their spending on material things and seek out experiences that may garner more satisfaction, according to a Luxury Institute survey.

“People are less interested in watches and more interested in building lasting memories,” said Milton Pedraza, chief executive of the Luxury Institute. “Even among the wealthiest customers, luxury goods and services are considered less important in today’s economy.”

Click the link to read the entire article which includes several quotes from Milton Pedraza, CEO of Luxury Institute:
http://www.latimes.com/business/money/la-fi-mo-wealthy-spending-20130610,0,5516627.story

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June 4, 2013

Better Economy Spurs Ultra-Wealthy To Spend More On Travel, Dining And Wine, But Appetite Cools For Jewelry And Handbags

Posted in Fashion,Handbags,Jewelry,Luxury Market,Press Releases,Travel & Leisure,WealthSurvey
Tags: Milton Pedraza, Pentamillionaires, State of the Luxury Industry, Ultra-Wealthy —

(NEW YORK) June 4, 2013 – For its 2013 State Of The Luxury Industry report, the Luxury Institute surveyed pentamillionaire consumers with net worth of at least $5 million and minimum annual household income of $200,000 to learn about current preferences and future spending on luxury goods and services for the remainder of 2013. Respondents also shared evaluations of the overall luxury market.

One-third of pentamillionaires plan to step up spending on leisure travel in the second half of 2013, making hotels, airlines and cruise operators big beneficiaries of additional spending by America’s wealthiest shoppers. Restaurants are poised for a pick-up, too, with 20% of ultra-wealthy consumers planning to spend “more” or “much more” on dining out in the final six months of the year, and 19% also pouring more dollars into wine.

Additional categories seeing significant upcoming spending interest are health & fitness (17%) and vacation real estate (17%).

Rebounding home values and the surging stock market are not spreading cheer or riches universally. More than 80% of pentamillionaires say luxury goods are less important in the current economic environment. Jewelry sales especially may be under some pressure, with 25% of the ultra-wealthy saying they will spend less or much less through the remainder of 2013. Handbags are the focus of planned spending cutbacks by 20% of those surveyed.

“Even among the wealthiest consumers, luxury goods and services are considered less important in today’s economy,” says Luxury Institute CEO Milton Pedraza. “Luxury brands can capture these increasingly discerning ultra-wealthy consumers by providing unrivaled quality, craftsmanship and service.”

About Luxury Institute (www.LuxuryInstitute.com)
The Luxury Institute is the objective and independent global voice of the high net-worth consumer. The Institute conducts extensive and actionable research with wealthy consumers about their behaviors and attitudes on customer experience best practices. In addition, we work closely with top-tier luxury brands to successfully transform their organizational cultures into more profitable customer-centric enterprises. Our Luxury CRM Culture consulting process leverages our fact-based research and enables luxury brands to dramatically Outbehave as well as Outperform their competition. The Luxury Institute also operates LuxuryBoard.com, a membership-based online research portal, and the Luxury CRM Association, a membership organization dedicated to building customer-centric luxury enterprises.

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October 11, 2012

Ultra-Wealthy Shoppers Spend More On Luxury Where They Maintain Personal Relationships; Pentamillionaires most likely to be close with specific sales professionals at Barneys, Bergdorf Goodman

(NEW YORK) October 11, 2012 – U.S. consumers with at least $5 million in assets and $200,000 in annual income share detailed opinions and observations about their relationships with salespeople in six luxury categories in the new 2012 Luxury Customer Relationship Index survey from the independent and objective New York-based Luxury Institute.

High-ticket categories show higher rates of customers who deal with a specific salesperson. Watches (49%) lead all categories in terms of proportion of customers who maintain relationships with salespeople, followed by jewelry (40%) and men’s ready-to-wear (38%). There is a noticeable drop-off in rates of personal relationships at luxury retailers (30%), handbag brands (27%) and women’s ready-to-wear (21%).

Across categories, 70% of ultra-wealthy customers who transact and communicate with a specific salesperson say that this relationship causes them to spend more on goods and services in stores and on the Web. The biggest positive impact on sales comes when customers maintain relationships with salespeople in luxury retail, and in both men’s and women’s ready-to-wear categories.

In luxury retail, Bergdorf Goodman (51%) and Barneys (49%) enjoy the highest rates of maintaining relationships with ultra-wealthy customers, with larger chains like Bloomingdale’s and Nordstrom seeing lower incidence of relationships. In the middle are Brooks Brothers (36%), Neiman Marcus (32%), Lord & Taylor (30%), and Saks (26%).

“Luxury retailers know that relationships drive sales,” says Luxury Institute CEO Milton Pedraza. “The right hiring, education programs and Customer Culture help to promote more productive relationships and higher sales.”

About the Luxury Institute (www.LuxuryInstitute.com)
The Luxury Institute is the objective and independent global voice of the high net-worth consumer. The Institute conducts extensive and actionable research with wealthy consumers about their behaviors and attitudes on customer experience best practices. In addition, we work closely with top-tier luxury brands to successfully transform their organizational cultures into more profitable customer-centric enterprises. Our Luxury CRM Culture consulting process leverages our fact-based research and enables luxury brands to dramatically Outbehave as well as Outperform their competition. The Luxury Institute also operates LuxuryBoard.com, a membership-based online research portal, and the Luxury CRM Association, a membership organization dedicated to building customer-centric luxury enterprises.

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September 5, 2012

Wealth Management Boutiques Beat Big Banks In Luxury Institute Brand Status Survey Of Pentamillionaires

Posted in Customer Experience,Finance,LBSI,Press Releases,Wealth Management,Wealthy Consumer
Tags: Bessemer Trust, Boston Private Bank and Trust, Brown Brothers Harriman, Fidelity, Glenmede Trust, Goldman Sachs, Luxury Institute, Milton Pedraza, Neuberger Berman Private Asset Management, Pentamillionaires, Rockefeller Wealth Management, Wealth Management —

(NEW YORK) September 5, 2012 – Investors with at least $5 million in assets and minimum annual income of $200,000 prefer smaller boutiques instead of larger Wall Street firms in the latest Wealth Management Luxury Brand Status Index (LBSI) survey from the independent and objective New York-based Luxury Institute. LBSI scores comprise respondents’ evaluations (1-10) of each brand’s quality, exclusivity, social status and ability to deliver special client experiences.

Brown Brothers Harriman earns top honors with the highest LBSI score of 7.01, and ranks first on each of the four sub-categories. Brown Brothers’ closest competition comes from Boston Private Bank and Trust (6.37), Neuberger Berman Private Asset Management (6.3) and Bessemer Trust (6.27).

Wealthy investors also show a strong streak of independence with the largest share (8.7%) saying that they would use Fidelity for future wealth management services. Fidelity is also the most recommended brand, with 61% of pentamillionaires saying they would refer friends and family to Fidelity. Only 32% would recommend Goldman Sachs.

“Reputations for honesty and superior client service are what make the smaller firms standouts in this survey,” said Luxury Institute CEO Milton Pedraza. “This is demonstrated by revered brands Rockefeller and Glenmede, which barely missed the mark in attaining a statistical sample, but would have been in the top range otherwise.”

Respondents reported $15 million average net worth and average income of $720,000.

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