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.”