Inside the Competition for the World’s Richest Shoppers

livemint.com:

In December, about 20 people sipped Champagne at Lincoln Center’s David H. Koch Theater as members of New York City Ballet rehearsed the Nutcracker. The attendees toured backstage and chatted with the dancers before decamping to Bad Roman, a glitzy Italian restaurant in Columbus Circle, for dinner.

They were all guests of Mytheresa, an online luxury retailer that has two stores in Germany. A new era of one-upmanship has taken hold in luxury shopping, where retailers and brands are vying to outdo each other to attract and retain wealthy shoppers. Mytheresa gets more than a third of its sales from just 3% of shoppers.

At Neiman Marcus 2% of customers deliver 40% of sales. The brands are treating customers the way airlines treat frequent fliers and casinos treat “whales," the highest rollers who get fancy suites, drinks and other amenities. Gucci and Brunello Cucinelli are opening invitation-only boutiques in cities that include Los Angeles, Milan, Paris and New York, where shoppers can peruse the latest collections without brushing up against the masses.

Louis Vuitton and Burberry are targeting the uber wealthy with hotel-suite-worthy dressing rooms. Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus are dialing up the perks with early access to exclusive collections and experiences that money alone can’t buy. The efforts highlight a sobering reality for many sellers of luxury goods: After years of growth fueled by less-affluent shoppers shopping like affluent ones, luxury brands are watching their customer bases shrink and sales flag, particularly in the Americas, as more people feel the strain of high inflation and dwindling savings.