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~ ESW ~

Cross-border demand for luxury brands rose by 50% in the first half of 2021, dominated by
consumers in China, the UAE, South Korea and India. In fact, ESW’s ‘Global Voices: Pre-
Peak Pulse 2021’ survey of almost 15,000 consumers across fourteen countries showed that
luxury purchases were the fastest-growing cross-border category in those six months.

his is clearly more than just a reaction to the further emphasising the need for brands to improve their
pandemic. The research also showed that DTC capabilities.
T43% of cross-border shoppers were happy
to forego the in-store luxury experience for online However, the DTC offer has to work even harder to
convenience. In fact, 69% said they are more likely replicate the white-glove in-store experience. This must
to buy luxury goods online if the online experience include premium customer service, covering tracked and
mirrors the level of service received in-store. personalised delivery, free returns, luxury packaging,
premium courier services, and immersive online experiences.
As a result, online luxury sales are predicted to increase to
30% in 2021, up from 22% in 2020 – a boost that is being These include experiences that are not unique to offline
driven by Millennial and Gen Z shoppers, who, according to but would be restricted to consumers in the real world.
Vogue Business, will account for a fifth of all luxury fashion Now, brands can offer livestreams and fashion shows to get
spend by 2025. their customers as close as possible to the excitement and
build purchase capability alongside so the experiences are
42% of respondents surveyed said they will make those seamless. For example, Watches & Wonders’ event drew
purchases from brand websites outside their home country, in 800,000 viewers in 2021 and brands, including Panerai
which is good news for popular British brands. More than and Cartier, sold online after the livestream. Meanwhile,
half of shoppers in Mexico (54%), China (61%), Russia Gucci launched Gucci Live, a video service from a new faux
(50%), and South Africa (57%) said they are comfortable luxury store with cameras and TV-style lighting for remote
buying luxury products online due to the lack of availability clienteling, an experiment that has now been extended to
and variety of such goods locally. the entire EMEA region. Not to mention their Gucci Vault
initiative, which is offering limited edition product lines to
Naturally, as Covid-related restrictions on movement have members.
eased, there has been a shift back toward pre-pandemic
activities. However, some behaviour looks set to become For brands to replicate these experiences online themselves,
more permanent; 44% of respondents who had previously to reach a global audience is almost impossible, not to say
travelled abroad to shop indicated they would resume taking expensive. Moreover, they will not want to create permanent
international shopping holidays once fully vaccinated, with infrastructure if that robs them of the flexibility to respond
over two-fifths (41%) saying they would shop online as to demand country by country as it changes.
well as travel internationally to purchase. However, 25% of
respondents who identified as ‘shopping tourists’ indicated Therefore, as DTC increasingly becomes consumers’
they would no longer take international shopping holidays. luxury shopping destination of choice, the onus is on these
brands to find partners, such as ESW, who can provide
Luxury brands must be sure to take full advantage of these the technology, infrastructure and knowledge to facilitate
trends, particularly following the removal in the UK of seamless DTC routes to market, often in just a matter of
tax-free shopping earlier this year. Our research shows that weeks and certainly much faster than if they attempted to do
46% of shoppers are more likely to travel to other luxury so on their own) all while retaining ownership of all the data
shopping destinations that offer tax-free shopping than the collected during the shopping process. ••
UK. Of the most valuable cohort of visitors, 59% of Chinese
respondents said they will make fewer visits to Britain, and
nearly two thirds (64%) said they will spend less on British
brands once travel restrictions are lifted.

However, with Bain & Company predicting that 48% of
global luxury spending will come from China by 2025, 70%
of China’s luxury purchases are now being completed at TO ACCESS ALL OF ESW’S GLOBAL VOICES REPORTS:
home. Overall, 25% of international shopping tourists say Visit www.esw.com/global-voices
they will shop online rather than travel abroad to purchase,

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