The Five Key Drivers Shaping Luxury.

There are many retailers around the world that egotistically claim to be luxury goods retailers. Truth be told, most are nothing but overpriced imitators. True luxury goods retail brands are thriving because in a world as transparent as the one we now live in, the imitators are being exposed and abandoned by customers.

It has become patently clear what builds and sustains luxury in the new era and it revolves around five key drivers demanded by customers on an emotional and rational level:-
1. Authenticity
2. Authorship
3. Apogee
4. Attention To Detail
5. Atelier

Authenticity
Customers of luxury brands want the products, services and the business itself to demonstrate a spirit that reeks of authenticity. They don’t want fake. They don’t want imitation. They don’t want me too. They don’t buy on price. They want to feel they are buying into undisputed origin, originality and significance.

Authorship
The story behind the business, the brand and the product must all have a signature that is recognizable, charismatic and reassuring. The customer will never get tired of the author as long as they tell and re-tell their stories in a way that enhances the customer’s lifestyle and delivers to their aspirations.

Apogee
Luxury customers buy brands and products that demonstrably strive to be the very best of breed and that deliver the maximum emotional return to them. Being the best is not an ego statement or a shallow claim. It is increasingly something that is based on quantifiable facts that can be used as supportive propaganda.

Attention To Detail
You are only as good as your weakest link is particularly true in luxury goods. But the flip side to attention to detail are the tell tale signs for customers of value and the hallmarks of care that they crave. Luxury products can often be the emotional antidotes to the feeling that when you have money, everyone is trying to rip you off.

Atelier
Luxury customers increasingly seek the emotional and rational characteristics of customization. They expect their specific requirements to be accommodated in a way that delivers deeper satisfaction than the mere transactional.

What is increasingly interesting to note, is that – in the mature western world – the buying profile of luxury products is not limited to the rich but to anyone with the aspiration to acquire them. As a result, many of these drivers are now finding themselves increasingly demanded in more mainstream products, services and retail businesses.