Summary In this episode of Retaili$tic, Deborah Weinswig and Ben Miller discuss the evolving landscape of the luxury market, focusing on digital transformation, the role of startups, and changing consumer behaviors. They explore the impact of AI on customer engagement, the dynamics of the resale market, and the importance of emotional connections in luxury retail. The conversation also highlights geographical insights, the rise of local luxury brands, and the future opportunities within the sector.
Takeaways
The luxury market is undergoing significant digital transformation.
Startups are crucial in driving innovation within the luxury sector.
Invisible AI is reshaping customer engagement strategies.
Resale markets are growing rapidly, especially in fashion.
Consumer behavior has shifted post-pandemic, affecting luxury sales.
The luxury market is bifurcating, with wealth concentration at the top.
Emotional engagement is key for luxury consumers.
Local luxury brands are gaining traction against established players.
Department stores are evolving into experiential platforms.
Defining luxury is becoming more complex, focusing on experiences over products.
Chapters
00:00 Exploring the Luxury Market Landscape
02:56 Digital Transformation in Luxury Retail
05:18 The Role of Startups in Luxury
08:10 Invisible AI and Customer Engagement
11:08 Resale Market Dynamics
13:40 Consumer Behavior Shifts Post-Pandemic
16:18 Luxury Market Bifurcation
19:05 The Importance of Emotional Engagement
21:53 Geographical Insights in Luxury Consumption
24:40 The Rise of Local Luxury Brands
27:16 Department Stores and the Luxury Experience
29:55 Defining Luxury in a Changing Market
32:06 Future Opportunities in Luxury Retail
Philip Moore (00:00)
Welcome to Retaili$tic, the official podcast of Coresight Research for February 10th, 2026. week, CEO Deborah Weinswig speaks with returning guest and Shoptalk director Ben Miller about the recent Shoptalk Luxe Conference. insights on the luxury market moving forward in 2026 and the lessons for all retailers looking to improve their brand perception and store experience.
But before we dive into this timely conversation, Isla joins us from the London office for a quick preview of some of the research our members will see this week on Coresight.com.
Isla Meldon (00:37)
This week, we're bringing you a fresh set of insights across strategy, sales and technology. We'll share a new playbook focused on alternative revenue opportunities, helping retailers identify new ways to drive growth. We're also digging into the latest CPG sales data, including whether beauty continues its strong run. And we'll spotlight Israel's retail tech ecosystem, exploring the innovators shaping the next wave of retail technology. Smart strategies, timely data and global innovation.
All coming this week.
Philip Moore (01:07)
Thanks, Isla. Now here's Deborah and Ben.
Deborah Weinswig (01:10)
Hello Ben, welcome to another episode of Retaili$tic. I hear you're kind of hot off of Shoptalk Luxe. Can you tell us a little bit the original idea of the show and we'll go from there.
Ben Miller (01:22)
Hi there, thank you very much for having me back We had an incredible week last week, so delighted to be able to share more for you in the community about what happened. this is going back a But in reality, the full process goes back 10 years. So 10 years ago when Anil and the founders created Zia, created Shoptalk.
Insight that drove it was of an industry that was going through an incredible digital transformation, but that digital transformation was not being even distributed. The incumbents were being left behind. If you think back to 2016, it was the time of a lot of P and VC money coming in. It was startups, was DTCs, it was creation of unicorns. It was...
⁓ a industry of huge scale being disrupted by digital transformation. And that created the opportunity to bring together a new community that treated retailers and brands and technology companies and investors on an even playing field and said, right, let's share, let's learn and let's build and drive digital transformation for the betterment of our industry to the consumer together. And that was...
Deborah Weinswig (02:44)
Mm-hmm.
Ben Miller (02:46)
the nub that created Shoptalk. And a year ago, we were looking the luxury industry. We were seeing so many parallels. We were seeing an industry where after the post-COVID highs, sales were dropping, profit was coming out of the sector. There were new startups that were gaining voice and gaining share.
and there was an incumbent industry base that was in some cases consciously not wanting to adopt technology to protect the existing business model. And we could see this disruption happening. And we thought, we got really excited about the opportunity to take Shoptalk into that industry and to create a brand new and relevant community to drive the of digital and technology within Luxury, which was a space that was smaller and less significant than others. And at the same time, we had been thinking about our geographic footprint. So we've had US shows and our European show, and we were getting so excited about the vibrancy of the Gulf, the startup community in the
the tech and investments that were happening in the Middle East. And we opened up a conversation with Adi and the Dhabi Investment who were interested in being a host partner for a retail show. And we brought the two things together, because we weren't interested in creating just another retail show. That's of no interest to Shoptalk.
We wanted to think about how do we create something new, special, different, and also needed for the industry. So we brought these two trains of thought together, what we were seeing in luxury and what we were seeing in the Middle East retail and created the foundation to build a brand new show and a brand new community. So that's the history, that was the thought process that went into, let's build a luxury show in the Middle East, which...
which in isolation feels wild, but was incredible.
Deborah Weinswig (04:58)
as you thought about the geographic aspect, were you seeing a lot of these ankle biters, if you will, in the Middle East itself, a lot of these newer companies that were kind of trying to take share from some of the juggernauts?
Ben Miller (05:13)
Yeah, we did. we thought has not a buy side and sell side. It's build side and a consume side. much of luxury is produced in the Mazons in France, in Northern Italy, a bit in Switzerland with watches and then a couple.
Yeah, a little bit in Spain, a little bit in the UK, but it's really centered on France, Switzerland, heartland. But then the two biggest markets for luxury good consumption is the US and China. So our first thing about geography is if you're going to do something for luxury, it has to be global. It has to be global. didn't want to base the show in one...
Deborah Weinswig (05:49)
Mm-hmm.
Ben Miller (06:02)
Production geography because we wanted what almost felt like neutral ground if you ran it in Italy Then we resonate with the French houses. So we wanted somewhere neutral then the logistics Ironically, we thought it'd be somewhere easy for everyone to get to we can come on to to that but speak being somewhere central There was a travel hub was a glow point was was really important for us So that and then the GCC market is the fastest growing luxury market in the world
So being there where we could take people out to the malls and we needed people who were traveling and wanted to go and see, we need people who were flying in, were visiting their flagship operation in the Mall of Dubai. We've seen what they're doing in Abu Dhabi. We're coming to the show. We're then traveling on to Riyadh and seeing what's being built there or going to the Mall of the Emirates or in Qatar. So we were seeing people making the opportunity of that. So it worked from a luxury industry perspective. And then we wanted to tap into
the startup communities and the investment vehicles that are helping to generate new businesses. So I think when we come on to about the startup pitch competition, audience choice winner was a female founded Saudi based organization. And we met some incredible startup businesses who are being based right across.
the Middle East. So it was a bit of both. It was tapping into the tech, but also making sure it was the right place for the luxury industry to come together.
Deborah Weinswig (07:35)
Yeah, I'd been in Saudi not that long ago and was really impressed with the, think the number and then the depth. And really a lot of these startups were very focused on digital transformation and right. Some of them had either authored books and yes, I think there is a really interesting market in the Middle East. And then I spent a lot of time personally ⁓
professionally in and also even geographically within kind of Saudi, right? You see a lot of really interesting technologies that are powering, think a of these startups as well.
Ben Miller (08:15)
Yeah, ⁓ see the foundational thinking is really interesting. I mean, understandably, a lot of the startups are AI focused, but there is some really interesting.
educational and research activities that are happening that are only going to build off. yeah, for Lux, it was very much a case of be the right place for the global luxury industry, but also be part of the accelerating and vibrant investment and startup scene in that region.
Deborah Weinswig (08:51)
And what would you say were some of the surprises from the show? And then how does it change how you think about the go forward? Either more, I would say, narrow, right? Because luxury is obviously a narrow market. So do you start to think about, do you do, you know, some of the other areas of retail, right? Maybe it's discount, right, which is the fastest growing globally, et cetera. But how do you
Ben Miller (09:06)
Yeah.
Deborah Weinswig (09:20)
How do you think about kind of what this show taught you?
Ben Miller (09:24)
Yeah, great question. I think it's one of those shows, it's gonna linger with me for a while. There was so many great conversations. You still keep going back over things. Without doubt, one of the things that I'm thinking about a lot is this whole idea of invisible AI.
because it's the most extreme in luxury. So luxury is a sector which significantly under indexes in terms of econ penetration. And the reason for that is this desire to keep that personal connection often in store, often through a personal seller, whether that is the top personal sellers that the major department stores have or individual client relationships that brands have.
⁓ manage these high net worth and ultra high net worth individuals. So in that industry where it's all about that personal connection many of the conversations around AI is how do we drive yes the agenda transformation the efficiency
play to drive profit in the sector, but also in terms of customer engagement, how can we use it to empower our teams to do a better job? So that, I think as a sector, the idea of...
use AI to make my business run better, but I don't want my customers to see it as this most extreme, but then think about how that then plays through into other parts of retail, other sectors. Where will the shoppers and the consumers give permission to engage directly and where do they not want to? And across wider retail, we are still finding that out on a day-by-day basis. So that's really got me thinking. think the other area where I definitely changed my perspective on
is thinking a lot more about Resale is, I mean the growth numbers for resale are two to three X across total fashion compared to buying new. They are even faster growth.
Deborah Weinswig (11:30)
What about geographically, how does that work out?
Ben Miller (11:33)
Yeah, so that's a really interesting point. Geographically, in terms of the markets that we were in, so in GCC, it's a lot about of hiring rather than secondhand. So that the kind of share market is growing. In Europe and in North America, absolutely resale.
as we just talk about luxury is an industry where people value that personal but the vast majority of resale, 90 plus percent in the US for example, is still going through So can you as a brand owner,
Bring people into your brand, get the data, take them on the journey, build that loyalty and recognise resale as an entry point rather than resale as something that other people will do and I'm only interested in you. Because
it's not sustainability concerns that are making people interested in resale. is, especially in fashion, it's price, value, and the opportunity for individuality. So if you have consumers who are craving individuality and are excited by your brand, you wanna bring them in and bring them in that journey rather than send them off to a marketplace to do that. But obviously the cost of doing that is huge, which is why many of the brands aren't doing it. you we had...
having two of our startup page.
Deborah Weinswig (12:58)
Can you double
click on the cost piece?
Ben Miller (13:00)
it's starting to become clear to me that Resale is a scale game, that you can reach a tipping point in terms the tech and the hours you need to put in to source, improve where required.
resale and then getting back out the door again, there comes a tipping point where you can scale that and it becomes profitable. If you do it at low levels, it's very, very, very, very expensive. we saw, so two of the finalists of Startup Pitch were startups who are trying to look at this challenge and help brand owners take the cost out resale even more.
So that's just in luxury when we start multiplying that out across the wider market. That was definitely an area that excited and interested me. And it's certainly something I'm to be thinking about differently as we go into wider retail conversations. Shopdop Springs coming up next. We're going from ⁓ Shopdop looks, a global small market to looking at the whole of the US retail sector. So I'm really interested to see the referees on that.
Deborah Weinswig (14:04)
reason I asked about the size of the prize, if you will, and the cost is there's a charity I'm very involved in called Souls for Souls. And we have had them at our next-gen commerce events. We were just at FMI Midwinter. they were, ⁓ I owe a lot to Doug Baker. We, because right, to have apparel, footwear, and accessories. ⁓
Ben Miller (14:28)
Ha
Deborah Weinswig (14:29)
terms of a charity, but people are really interested and how Souls for Souls works is where you should go to an event, you bring a pair of shoes that you've previously worn for the most part. And then what happens is, so just to give you a bit of background, model is that they will sell those previously loved items to people in a third world country for literally pennies on the dollar, and then they will repair.
and resell. And so you're, you're literally creating an entire market and you're empowering people, right? You know, the idea is you want people to kind of like, you know, buy inventory and then they're fixing something. And so we've taken a lot of our expertise into Europe right now, right? Which is, is very focused on sustainability. And we have recaptured a lot of product. We have fixed it at Souls for Souls.
Ben Miller (14:57)
Drive. Yeah, yeah.
Deborah Weinswig (15:19)
and then we've given it to the brands to sell on their own website. so we've taken a lot of the, right, because they don't necessarily have, don't have expertise, right, in that area, right, in terms of repair. And so if you start to think about it, you can take the cost down and, right, you need somebody to authenticate. So if you can take the cost down and authentication,
Ben Miller (15:40)
Yes, absolutely.
Deborah Weinswig (15:44)
I think, and what we're seeing, just so you know, is we're starting to see a lot of, this is WeCore site, a lot of brands putting their own product that's previously loved on their website because it is, as you kind of indicated, it's a gateway. People who can't afford, I think Google admin does a great job of this, who can't afford the full price product.
but they're interested or they really like the quality of the product. I think that you're almost talking about a new way of thinking what is retail. And what's interesting is if you look at the units per consumer, they continue to grow. And so I think we're seeing more and more a mix of previously loved and what is called bought at retail. But I do have a question.
Ben Miller (16:37)
Hmm.
Deborah Weinswig (16:38)
During the pandemic, probably spoke more to the luxury brands and retailers than anyone else, probably two or three X, because their model, as you kind of correctly assessed, isn't, right, somebody has their little book. I think at that point in the game, it was all physical, and right now, much more of that's digital. And that's how that, so it was great, actually, because the salespeople had their books, they called their customers.
Right, they were able, I actually think the luxury industry in many cases was much healthier because they were able to keep those But they were able to kind of pivot to a new model very quickly. What about that did they not keep? Because they had done it. So how did they forget how to do it?
Ben Miller (17:22)
Yeah.
Yeah, I think for me, and from the conversations that we had last week, the answer in a lot of that is customer and the patterns. So we talked at length
bifurcation in consumer outcomes, the wage and income disparity that's happening across a lot of markets. So particularly US and Europe. So there was a different set of dynamics happening in China, and we can come back to that. think China and luxury is fascinating. But in Western Europe, US especially, we've seen the very wealthiest in society have
become increasingly wealthy and to some levels, extremely wealthy. That's great for the luxury industry. The challenge is the middle, a middle income earners have become really, really squeezed. So what we've seen actually between 2022 and now is a significant drop in the number of active luxury customers.
So it's like 50 to 70 globally have come out of the luxury industry over that period because they had more disposable income coming out of the pandemic then that income has then been squeezed. So what you've seen is something like 2019, top customers.
in luxury accounted for about 30 % of sales. It's nearly half now. So we've had is real concentration For the people who have exited luxury.
we've seen a whole group of companies, and Lulu is a great example of that, who've created premium offers, and their premium offers have really resonated. So, okay, I'm not gonna, I can't afford anymore to buy into high-end luxury, even though I did actually go and buy my you know, whatever bag during the pandemic. Actually, I'm not now, but I am buying into these more premium high and high street plus offers. So that market has picked up as people have traded down.
Deborah Weinswig (19:15)
Yeah.
Ben Miller (19:37)
The response to all of that that we've seen over the last couple of years is luxury, many of the luxury some really significant price increases. that's, it's led to, and so therefore it's really focused on this concentrating number of high net worth and ultra high net worth individuals.
and it squeezed the middle, the aspirational luxury customer has become even squeezed even further out. So by focusing too much on the black book, it's pushed too many people out. And I we had...
We had a really nice keynote conversation on the final morning, just kind teeing up the themes of the show with Imran Ahmed from Business of Fashion, the founder of Business of Fashion. And he was very interesting talking about celebrating the industry whilst also holding them to account. And the thing that he was holding people to account of is trust has been eroded because of the price level of price increases.
Therefore, we can't as an industry just rely on price. We've got to generate some more volume into this industry. So therefore, the tricks that were done over those last few years, it kind of needs a new playbook. We've got to bring new people in. We've got to have the right merchandise, the right price points. We've got to excite people. We've got to turn to digital demand creation in a way that the industry hasn't done before to bring in younger consumers to excite them and to drive volume again.
you can't just keep relying on his comments crystallized a whole number of themes that were being spread out across the show.
Deborah Weinswig (21:17)
mean, it's interesting because our research indicates, right, if you think about, and you did refer to, right, ⁓ &W, the Ultra High Not Worth individuals, and they shop very differently, right, than your traditional luxury customer because they don't want labels, right, this is like the Lora Piana customer, right, they don't want labels. They also, they value their time more than anything. So, right, some of our research has shown they'll buy something in the secondhand market.
Ben Miller (21:27)
Yeah.
Deborah Weinswig (21:47)
because they don't want to wait to get it in the first market. And so, you you can like a Birkin bag, et cetera. as I think about it, I wonder how the customer has changed kind of pre and post pandemic. And does what luxury,
stands for, and we'll call it the I think that that's also the other thing, Ben, right, is that you have these different luxury markets, right? As you said, China is its own. But we'll call it Greater China, Southeast Asia, ⁓ MENA, right? Like however you want to kind of divide and conquer. But I think you have very different, it's almost cultural in terms of how people look at this. And so I think
That's when I think it becomes more challenging. we've done a bunch of, you we've worked with a lot of the luxury houses and how they themselves, I will say, yes, were they slower to adopt e-commerce, let's call it, sure. But that's because of how they wanted to engage with their consumer. I think.
Ben Miller (22:51)
Yes, 100%.
Deborah Weinswig (22:53)
They have been very, very much on the cutting edge of thinking about what they sell to their customers in terms of services and more. don't love the word personalization. There has to be a better word. Maybe you guys came up with something, like this, and it's not even like one-to-one relationship. It's your relationship with the brand. So maybe you can double click on a few of those things.
Ben Miller (23:04)
Yes.
Oh, absolutely. think on the first one, I think is a really interesting point that was discussed a lot around emotional engagement that luxury consumers are seeking at the moment and some really powerful know, McKinsey and Business of Fashion published their annual State of Fashion. They did a luxury edit for us. And I think one of the most compelling charts they showed was
kind of the emotions that people are looking for when buying luxury, what's important to them and what categories therefore they think they're going to buy into more in the year ahead. And by a long way, it's wellness and linked to that longevity.
So the, and then number two was then travel and experiences. And actually it was something like 53 % expect to spend more on wellness and longevity. 30 % of luxury consumers expect, 30 plus expect to spend more on travel and experiences in the year ahead. And it was down to 20%. I'm expecting to buy same or more in terms of physical goods and apparel.
And that was a nice quantitative illustration of a trend that was being picked up right across the show around experiences. Coming back to your point around personalization, unique experiences that you can provide, differentiated experiences, but really leaning into wellness and Luxury has historically been
emotions linked to status and self-worth and now everybody was figuring out how do we align our products in a relevant and authentic way to emotions around wellness and longevity. ⁓ So that was a very very big area of conversation. The second one on geographical change, huge area. What I think was really interesting, I think it taps into exactly what you were saying. There was a fantastic interview with Miral Youssef
and Miral runs Kerring for the Middle East. She She made the point now that for them, for their brand, their collections, a bestseller is a bestseller is a bestseller, regardless if it's Paris, Milan, Abu Dhabi or Riyadh. So it's not about different...
products, the idea that if you wanted to sell luxury into the Middle East, you had to go huge on the logo, especially around. Actually, the classics that have been sold in Paris are the same classics that they're selling here. What's the crucial thing is the local tailoring in the execution, the storytelling, the go-to-market, the store strategy, rather than necessarily the products themselves. And I thought that was really insightful for Mirel.
Deborah Weinswig (26:20)
the research we've done shows that, in different markets, what brings the customer into the store is different, but what they ultimately sell is the classics. And that's what's so interesting. I mean, like when you really start to study it and see kind of what they buy versus what brought them in, those are two different things. And there's a much more similarity in terms of what they're walking out with versus what
Cause of a walk in, if you will.
Ben Miller (26:47)
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And then we had the whole conversations about China. So many luxury brands, many luxury companies have suffered. Last year, the luxury market in China contracted by seven to What we are seeing is green shoots. So I think the market is expected to be flat this year into growth next year.
Deborah Weinswig (26:51)
Mm-hmm.
Ben Miller (27:11)
just listening to some of the recent earnings calls, some of the big conglomerates have called out suggestions of a return to growth. The conversation that we had at the show was, do not look at this as China rebounding, this is the Chinese luxury market resetting. So yes, it's coming back, but what is going to come back is different.
and they're favoring local brands people aren't traveling as much there local
luxury brands from China who have done a much better job of being able to drive digital engagement in the market. And that's really resonating. understanding that Chinese luxury is coming back but expected to be different to what it was that drove huge growth for many of these people over the last few years. But Deborah, I know this is an area that you have incredibly active with. I'd be super keen to hear what your thoughts in the area are.
Deborah Weinswig (28:02)
so we've done a lot of work for luxury brands in the market specifically. And I would say in 2015, 2016, word of caution was that we were starting to see very strong local brands that were gaining share and the quality was great and the fit was great and they just understood the consumer better.
And so if you think about it, many of these luxury houses, they would keep 70 % of decision making at HQ and only 30 % in local market. And as a result, there were, mean, the list is way longer than my arm, if you will, in terms of some of the challenges that presented. So for example, they decisions on inventory, right, call it nine to 12 months ahead.
And would run from HQ, they would run advertising necessarily reflect the inventory buy. And then also one of the, and I'm trying to say this as tactfully as but the size of the models used was also necessarily culturally, there was a lack of cultural awareness in many cases.
Ben Miller (29:01)
Right, right.
Deborah Weinswig (29:19)
right where models would have tattoos. it was shocking to me, the mistakes. mean, there were some really, really bad ones, which we don't need to go into, but we kept seeing it. And I mean, I would see it and I'd be like chatting people, or we chatting, right? Like, I'm like, did you see this? I ⁓ like overly concerned about this? And people are right? And so, and it was kind of that. ⁓
Ben Miller (29:40)
Yeah.
Deborah Weinswig (29:45)
I think personally there were some mistakes that unforgivable as strong, but kind of really butting up to that unforgivable. And so I think that what happened is there were so many of these and it was really only luxury. That's what was interesting for the most part. And so I think that there were several forces.
that created this opening for local luxury brands. And I mean, I probably have, I'm not gonna find it now, of course, but I have all of these catalogs from a lot of local luxury brands, and the product's great. And in some cases, they were inspired by some of these luxury houses, but then they would adapt it to the kind of local customer. And so I think that...
I mean, I Karing has done a great job, I mean, in terms of Enchanel as well, on, thinking about the market and how they can be more local. Because I think they kept so much at HQ for so long that, they all had a many cases of these unforgivable mistakes. So
it was 2017, we did a very large advisory project and our warning shot was in 2025, just about when you saw it, right? It has nothing to do with the macro environment, going back to, right? You've seen with like ultra high net worth of individuals, cetera, that you would see a change in where and how.
luxury was purchased and the brands that the local consumers desired. So think that for brands that most people would be aware of, right, let's say outside of greater China, I think that there could be continued pressure to be quite honest. And I think there's a strength in local luxury.
Ben Miller (31:42)
Yeah.
Deborah Weinswig (31:43)
And once again, it's fit, it's culturally appropriate, right? There's so many things that are right about think because most of the luxury houses, for many reasons, still getting like 60 % of control HQ. They're never gonna be local.
Ben Miller (32:00)
And then I think the other really interesting point, and again, this comes down to the timing, that we ran our show just over a week after.
people started to get the news of the implications of what the bankruptcy for Sass Global will mean for them. So we're running a show, we're bringing together the global luxury community at a time when largest multi-brand luxury goods retailer, one of the two largest luxury goods markets in the world,
Deborah Weinswig (32:19)
Mm.
Ben Miller (32:34)
as far as chapter 11. there was conversations around to unpick a little bit of that. mean, some of it is around the practicalities. know, people were figuring out how they're gonna get paid and how much they were gonna get paid. But more so, it was around the changing role of department stores in different markets.
we were celebrating some incredible luxury department stores. know, like CEO of Len Crawford Group on the stage, the CEO of Harrods on the stage, Selfridges, Liberty's. We looked at some incredible luxury houses that are, like large boutiques rather than necessarily department stores in the Inhaler field. And then we...
Deborah Weinswig (33:15)
Well, they're almost,
I it's interesting we were talking to a retail about this yesterday. They're almost a platform. Right. And I think so you just said something I think is incredibly unique to the luxury market is they understand the kind of relationship between physical and digital, if you will. And I think that these stores are platforms in a very interesting way. Right. That's where the consumer discovers that's where they build this relationship.
Ben Miller (33:41)
Yes.
Deborah Weinswig (33:43)
loyalty, personalization, whatever you want to call it. And think you bring up an incredibly important point.
Ben Miller (33:49)
So which leads to this exciting thing is going to play that role of the taste maker the US. It's one thing if you're a Chanel or a Gucci and you have your portfolio of branded stores and your own clients, but especially for smaller luxury brands for whom a listing in a department store to be part of that curated
is huge. How do do that if the department store model
in the US is struggling. all this trade going to go to Nordstrom and everybody looks in that direction? Or are we looking towards, know, influencers and digital and gigantic commerce to help people discover these brands? Because if it's the latter, that's a new muscle that lot of these brands have got to build. And that, I think we're a really inflection point on that.
Deborah Weinswig (34:44)
what is your thought on the path to purchase?
Ben Miller (34:48)
think
two things. One is discovery and one is fulfillment. I think discovery is going to evolve as more younger consumers come through. So we did a deep dive on Gen Alpha and shared some brand new research on Gen Alpha. A generation that, especially through their consumption of digital media, has been more exposed to luxury brands.
on a more widespread level than any generation previously. So there is already an younger consumers of somebody's luxury brand. So how do you then take that awareness into activation do that digitally if you're in the group? In terms of points of distribution,
We've seen people talking significantly around investing in their owned and operated stores to be able to create that point of connection with the consumers. So it's it's trying to balance those two.
Deborah Weinswig (35:47)
Can I ask a really, I guess we should have started here, but how do you define luxury? Because do think that some of the consumer backlash we've seen, this is actually constant conversation in the China market. If you think about the make of the product and then you look at the price, There is a much different multiplier.
Ben Miller (35:51)
You
Deborah Weinswig (36:13)
the, we'll call it the non luxury market. Now that I think is, and so in China, luxury, I want say we did a lot of, we've done a lot of research here in terms of, you you've got the heritage in, these European luxury houses, which you don't have in China. So it goes back to, is it craftsmanship, right? is it like, you know, if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it's a duck.
Ben Miller (36:36)
you
Deborah Weinswig (36:39)
How do you define it and how do you know it when you see it?
Ben Miller (36:43)
Yeah, absolutely right. Because there's this whole series of intangibles around heritage and craftsmanship and product quality and storytelling. Actually, we step back and we look at it more We actually looked at luxury in terms of not just products, but also...
experiences. So we included travel and hospitality in our show to an extent that have never done before and they brought fascinating perspectives. We included automotive to an extent that we hadn't done almost defining luxury by the consumer and their mindset rather than the product or service has been bought which feels incredibly ethereal to
to an analyst but it is absolutely as you say we also went broad so part of the proposition of shop top looks was yes pure luxury but it was also aspirational brands who are looking at
What can they learn from pure luxury to premiumise their offer? And we saw great traction in the audience
organisations who wanted to understand how to be able to do better client telling, have more authentic storytelling, bring a more personal touch into their stores and take some of the cues from luxury into the high street. So we had a very good contingent of the audience that were learning from that as well as the majority that was the traditional pure luxury.
Deborah Weinswig (38:26)
So things up, what did this show teach you, Ben, about? Because I want your opinion versus the shop talk opinion, right? What did this teach you about doing something? I love this idea, right? You're doing luxury as kind of a much broader ecosystem, which I think is how it should be as well.
So what did that teach you about going through an area of what we'll call it consumer spending, right? Because it's more than just retail versus, you know, kind of looking at either, mean, grocery shop is very much, and this is just, think, the nature of what's happening in grocery has become very heavily retail media from a technology standpoint.
Ben Miller (38:55)
Yep. Yep. Yep.
Deborah Weinswig (39:11)
Some challenges can be if you get too narrow, right, then the tech topic kind of overtakes some of the larger challenges of the industry or opportunities of the industry or larger story. And then how do you think about the geography? So that's kind of three questions wrapped into one.
Ben Miller (39:20)
Hmm.
Yeah, yeah.
The whole experience for me was an incredible journey of discovery. So Deborah, as you know, we've spoken before, grocery is my background. Grocery is the industry that I know really well. So in a room full of grocers and CPGs, they're my people. I kind of understand, I know their motivations. I know where they come from. I've been one, I've walked in their shoes. I have not walked in the shoes of a luxury executive. So it is an incredible opportunity.
for me personally to learn about an industry that I knew less well and engage with less frequently. I came away really of the opportunities for luxury but only for those organizations that are prepared to I think there are whole suite of technologies that will help really
enhance the heritage and the craftsmanship that lies at the heart of the industry but requires development to continue to be profitable and relevant in the long term.
I'm really optimistic about organizations prepared to kind of continue evolve their business models, to look at things that resale, to really embrace digital demand creation. Because one of the things that I learned about luxury is more than any other.
sector that I've worked with, the senior leaders consider themselves kind of of a history. So they are looking in a refreshing long term. And how do we evolve our model to continue to be relevant for next generations rather than the next quarter? I found that really refreshing. How do you take that and combine it with, to be honest, the
Deborah Weinswig (41:07)
Yeah.
Ben Miller (41:27)
the pace required.
to compete with some of the incredible incumbents and incredible startup we met. I think there is, I think it's gonna be a lot of change ahead, but also a a huge opportunity for these brands. There really is. So yeah, so that's sort of what I learned. And I loved spending time, spending more time in the middle. I love spending time in the Middle East whenever I can. The vibrancy that can do, the opportunity.
yes, I will be absolutely trying to seek to do more of that.
Deborah Weinswig (42:01)
Well, I can't, I can't believe we're going to see each other very soon. And, ⁓ we, of course had already getting ready for shop talk in March. ⁓ it feels like it's, ⁓ just a stone's throw away and, ⁓ looking forward to kind of seeing you more in person and also really understanding kind of how, Everything this year has really kind of been all about, physical AI, right. That's been the big topic of the, year so far. And I love this idea of right.
Ben Miller (42:16)
parts.
Deborah Weinswig (42:26)
the invisible AI and so learning more about that from you, Ben. Thank you so much for joining us. As always, we leave you wanting more and so it's a very good quality and characteristic. Thank you so much for your time with us and we look forward to seeing you again soon.
Ben Miller (42:42)
Thank you, Deborah. I'll see you in Vegas 24th to the 26th of March. Look forward to seeing you and seeing you in person then and many, many others. So take care until then.
Deborah Weinswig (42:53)
Thanks.
Philip Moore (42:54)
Thanks Deborah, and thank you for joining us this week. Corsight Research serves our members with leadership communities, data resources, seminars, conferences, strategy sprints, proprietary research, and more. Visit us at corsight.com to learn about all the ways we can support your success. Have a wonderful week.