Chinese consumers account for 1/3 of global luxury spending

"Sales of luxury goods in China are skyrocketing — up around 20 percent from 2016 — in its sharpest growth since 2011, as Chinese millennials seek products like handbags and cosmetics, Reuters reported.
Within China, sales of brands from Gucci to Chanel, which have been sluggish for years, rose at the fastest pace in five years in 2016 and are positioned to consolidate those gains in 2018. Sales of luxury goods in China reached 142 billion yuan ($22.07 billion) in 2016 in a 20 percent increase from the prior year, Bain & Co said in a report on Wednesday.
As the biggest spenders of luxury products in the world, Chinese consumers made up 32 percent of the €262 billion spent in the global market last year, fueling sales at France’s LVMH, Burberry and Gucci owner Kering. 2017 saw a global recovery of the luxury retail market due to their affinity for high-end brands.
Capitalizing on the trend, French fashion retailer Louis Vuitton, part of LVMH, launched an eCommerce website in China in 2017. Louis Vuitton, which opened its first store in Beijing in 1992, offers items from leather goods to shoes on its website."

Source:  PYMNTS, 18th January 2018

Apple is now the largest watch maker in the world, by revenue

"Traditional watchmakers, be very afraid. Apple has announced that it is now the biggest watchmaker in the world replacing Rolex at the top of the list.
Tim Cook revealed the big news alongside the unveiling of the Apple Watch Series 3, which comes packing LTE as was expected.
Apple had already reported that it had a 50% year on year growth for Watch sales, something that Cook made reference to at the 12 September event. We still don't know exact sales figures, but it's not the Apple way to talk numbers.
That's pretty impressive though when you consider that the first Apple Watch launched in 2014, while Rolex has been making watches for a fair few more years than the Cupertino company.
Moving to the number one spot also puts Apple ahead of Fossil, who have been making a big push with smartwatches and hybrid smartwatches over the past year as well as luxury watchmaker Cartier and Omega."

Source:  Wearable, 12th September 2017

Monocle is valued at appriximately $115m

"Tyler Brûlé, the FT columnist known for his luxurious lifestyle, has sold a minority stake in his global affairs magazine Monocle to Japanese newspaper publisher Nikkei Inc.
The deal values Monocle, which was launched in 2007, at about $115m. The size of Nikkei’s investment was not disclosed, but was below $10m.
“This says we’re in a very good place,” Mr Brûlé said. “We started with €10m-ish of capital in 2007.”
Partnering with Nikkei is intended to allow Monocle to develop its media franchise, while giving Nikkei an English-language platform to expand its presence in Asia.
[...]
Mr Brûlé said Monocle was profitable mainly thanks to its monthly magazine. The title’s print circulation rose 4 per cent year on year in the first half of 2014 to 77,030, mostly outside the UK – and now sells about half as many copies as Condé Nast’s GQ. The upcoming October edition has attracted more than $1m in print advertising, he said."

Source:  FT, 1st September 2014

41% of Vente-Privee's UK customers have bought on a mobile or tablet

"Leading online pan-European Flash Sale pioneer vente-privee.com has found that, of the eight main European markets in which it operates, the UK is by far the most mobile-orientated, with 37% of its UK turnover coming from mobile.
Looking at how it operates in France, Spain, Germany, Italy, UK, Belgium, The Netherlands and Austria, vente-privee.com has found that overall 32% of its sales come from mobile devices. This is up six per cent on the end of 2012. Breaking down the mobile turnover figures by device, 53% of turnover came from tablets, 47% from smartphones.
However, The UK takes a substantial lead ahead of the seven other European countries, with France in second place at 29%. There is also an impressive difference between the UK and vente-privee.com’s other European countries with regards to its percentage of mobile clients: 41%, with Germany second at 35%."
Source:  Internet Retailing, 8th July 2013

Gucci's American mobile site accounts for 27% of traffic and 13% of online revenue

"Fashion brand Gucci is getting more mobile-friendly, with the optimisation of its website. The optimised site was already available in North America and is now offered in Europe, before being rolled out to the Asia Pacific region this Spring.
Since the initial US launch in December, conversion rates have increased by over 70 per cent and revenue grew almost four times year over year. The mobile site already accounts for 27 per cent of the total traffic and 13 per cent of total revenue."

Source:  Mobile Marketing, 25th February 2013

34 London Fashion Week shows were streamed live online

"For the first time this season, the BFC have partnered with YouTube and will be live streaming 21 of the on-schedule catwalk shows through the LFW channel, youtube.com/LFWTV. The world’s largest video platform will be home to a customized London Fashion Week profile, broadcasting daily catwalk shows to a global audience. The BFC will once again be live streaming to www.londonfashionweek.co.uk/live. In total 34 shows - over 60% of the catwalk schedule – will be live streamed, including 21 from the Courtyard Show Space at Somerset House, 8 courtesy of Topshop from their venue at the Tate Modern, as well as shows outside the main catwalk venue including Burberry, Mulberry, Moschino, Henry Holland and Holly Fulton."

Source:  London Fashion Week, 13th February 2013

Topshop's London Fashion Week live video stream has had over 4 million views

"Topshop’s efforts seem to have paid off: since the Google+/Topshop live video initiative launched Friday, Cooke says the video stream has garnered 4,059,147 million views and counting across all platforms: Google+, YouTube, syndicated media players, Twitter, and the Topshop homepage. Perhaps more astoundingly: according to Cooke, during just the first five minutes of yesterday’s show, there were over 200,000 social media shares on Google+, Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Instagram, and Tumblr using the "Shoot The Show" feature."

Source:  Fast CoCreate, 18th February 2013

Only 2/3 of luxury brands have a mobile optimised site

"M-Commerce adoption is nascent in the prestige industry. Only two-thirds of prestige brands maintain a mobile-optimized site, and one-third of these mobile development efforts do not yet support commerce."

Source:  L2Prestige100 Report, January 2012

How digital media & technology is changing retail behaviour

"Across most categories of goods, the majority of respondents reported a preference to purchase items online rather than at a physical outlet. In the UK 74% percent of consumers said they were more likely to buy flights and vacations online (globally 70%), 77% prefer to buy CDs, DVDs, books and video games online (65% globally).
However, the majority of respondents said they prefer to purchase luxury goods in store and four in ten consumers still seem to shun online grocery shopping. These trends are particularly evident in the Americas where more than three quarters of respondents said they would book a flight online, but only 21 percent said they were more likely to buy groceries online.
The survey reveals the extent to which smartphones and tablets are changing shopping behaviour. When shopping at retail outlets, 45% of UK respondents said they now use their mobile devices to locate the nearest store, 32% to research products and services, 30% for online coupons and one in 5 (19%) scan in barcodes to for product information. Globally 41% research products & services and almost a quarter pay with their mobile devices.
When buying products or services the majority of customers in the UK and globally consult feedback and ratings pages on the internet or get information on social networks such as Facebook and Twitter. Monitoring and managing third party information sources will therefore be a key element of any digital sales strategy."

Source:  From KPMG's Consumers & Convergence Report, reported in a press release, 5th December 2011

Methodology:  "Consumers and Convergence V: The Converged Lifestyle [hyperlink], KPMG’s survey of consumer trends in digital technology, communications and e-commerce surveyed 9,600 consumers in 31 countries ranging in age from 16 to over 65."

80% of Americans earning more than $250,000 pa are social media users

"The reasons for going online are, as most other industries already know, compelling. Eighty percent of people with an income of over $250,000 are social media users according to Unity Marketing research, and 50 percent have used social media to learn more about a brand or see new products. Data from small business consulting firm Lex Consulting shows that those earning more than $150,000 are the only people spending more than they did before the recession. And a 2011 Digitas study notes over the next decade digitally entrenched millennials will become the next major luxury buyers—and should therefore be targeted now."
Source:  AdWeek, 12th September 2011
Note - While they don't explicitly say it, I'm assuming that the research quoted is for the US only

Burberry is spending 60% of its marketing budget on digital channels

"Burberry has switched the focus of its marketing away from glossy print advertising in favour of digital investment.
The luxury fashion brand is promoting the launch of its fragrance Burberry Body through Facebook, instead of glossy fashion magazines for the first time, according to the Financial Times.
The brand now spends 60% of its marketing budget on digital channels such as Facebook, which is more than three times the average investment.
The Facebook promotion offers fans of the brand a free sample of the scent, which will be sent to their home address, in return for allowing the brand’s application access to their data on Facebook."

Source:  Marketing Week, 1st September 2011

1 in 5 luxury brands on Facebook don't allow fans to post on their wall

"Facebook recently announced that, as of August this year, all brand Pages will be forced to allow fans to post on their Walls. Several brands, particularly those in the heavily-regulated pharmaceutical industry, prefer not to allow their fans to engage in this manner.
L2's recent study of 100 luxury brands, the "Prestige 100", across auto, beauty, fashion, jewelry, and spirits and Champagnes found that Facebook's decision will be good for brand engagement.
[...]
However, the study findings reveal that one in five of the 100 luxury brands, many of which are world leaders, do not allow fans to post on their Facebook Walls, suggesting the industry continues to treat the social network as a one-way communication channel."
Source:  Research by L2, reported by Biz Report, 7th June 2011