How Far Will Luxury Go to Be Experiential?

A look at how luxury brands and high-end retailers alike are broadening their offerings to drive customer loyalty.

There is a seismic shift happening in the world of luxury: younger high net-worth consumers are prioritising memorable experiences over material purchases. For brands, this means desirability no longer hinges solely on product, but on experience and the breadth of brand offerings.

Nearly a decade ago the Guardian released an article entitled, “Just Do It: The Experience Economy and How We Turned Our Backs on Stuff.’ 9 years on and the shift is still being noted. An article in the Sunday Times earlier this month was titled ‘Hotels are the new handbags.’ In it Laurent Kleitman, CEO of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group, expounds, ‘Luxury is evolving. A leather bag is a leather bag and the 21st leather bag you buy is less interesting than the 20th, especially in comparison to a whole new life experience. That’s what we create.’

So how are the luxury brands and fashion houses responding? By prioritising the experience customers have, making it more dimensional than the simple purchase. Now more than ever, the emphasis is on what happens before and after we tap our apple pay.

Of course, many brands saw this coming. In 2023, Dior partnered with Belmond to create a permanent spa on-board their Royal Scotsman Train. Guests choose between a myriad of bespoke, luxury experiences traversing the Scottish highlands and beyond. Recent additions to the calendar include A Taste of Scotland with Tom Kitchin, starting at £6,400 for two nights. The Dior Spa aboard is a thoughtful partnership that punctuates the changing importance of experience, and underlines the need for luxury brands to participate. Passengers may retreat to the spa carriage to relax with three treatment options on offer: the ‘Travel Body Massage’ designed to purify the body of toxins, the Elements Body Massage’ focused on the use of semi-precious hot stones, a Bain Dior mist, and a hot oshibori, and a sculpting ‘Highlands’ facial with traditional Kobido facial massage techniques.

The launch of Gucci’s Osteria da Massimo Bottura is another example of the world’s most renowned luxury brands diversifying their offering through a focus on experience. First opened in Florence in 2018, the launch of these restaurants in Beverly Hills, Tokyo, and Seoul has enabled customers to experience the brand anew through food, drink and service. Expanding into restaurants has allowed the brand to interact with customers over the course of a dinner, rather than a lap of the store. As Dior and Gucci exemplify, high-end brands are increasingly occupying the luxury hospitality space and deepening customer loyalty and understanding in doing so.

These initiatives are not just side projects, they’re loyalty strategies. By extending into hospitality, wellness, and dining, brands increase the number of meaningful touch points they have with consumers beyond the shop floor.

While luxury fashion houses have famously used immersive experiences to drive brand loyalty, retailers haven’t missed a beat either. Both Selfridges and Bicester Village have launched loyalty programs in recent years, fostering a space that feels special, elevated, and ultimately encourages their most significant investors to invest more.  Former client, Selfridges first launched their ‘Selfridges Unlocked’ program in 2023, where top-tier customers were anointed VSP Status – Very Selfridges Person. 

So How Does it Work?

Loyal customers can accumulate ‘Keys’ based on spending habits, which unlock various levels. If one ‘V’ wasn’t enough, those in the highest echelon become VVSPs, or ‘Very Very Selfridges Persons.’ VSP shoppers gain exclusive access to the latest Selfridges’ branded 40 Duke Members’ Club that opened on the 9th of April. As chronicled in Wallpaper* Magazine earlier this month, the space has come to life across 25,000 square feet and weaves together ‘hospitality, cultural programming, and social interaction: alongside 24 private shopping spaces, 40 Duke comprises a food and drink destination, an event area, a gallery, beauty studios, a concierge and much more.’

Our own Women’s Designer Galleries Launch Event with Selfridges sought to increase the footprint of VIP personal shopping. To execute this, we orchestrated an immersive film exhibition with submissions from designers like Rick Owens, Alexander McQueen and Dries Van Noten who worked in tandem with their favourite directors to create inimitable visual experiences.  

60 miles from Selfridges, much-loved designer outlet destination, Bicester Village has made similar strides. GSC has worked with the Bicester team for years in redefining outlet shopping for the luxury consumer. To do so, we ideated ways of driving footfall and consumer loyalty through targeting local and international shoppers. Bicester’s answer to 40 Duke is ‘The Apartment,’ a tastefully designed sanctuary accessed via invitation only. The Apartment takes away the cumbersome aspects of shopping. Guests coordinate arrival and are shepherded through a discreet entrance where they’re met with unique concierge services, including not having to queue at stores or carry bags. In our work with Bicester, we have developed high impact events and experiences at the Apartment to reward the outlets VICs (Very Important Customers). As a result of these loyalty programs and discounted prices, Bicester is the highest performing shopping destination per square foot globally.   

Member’s club, which are also operating within a highly competitive landscape,  are also innovating within experiences. Take Balearic the nomadic private members club created by Ollie Skinner.  They are prioritising a small membership circle, and intimate moments between the members to drive connections with likeminded people and experiences that can pop-up at any time or place; from DJ sets live from a Land Rover Defender to intimate dinners with private chefs and a curated bar serves. 

What brands like Dior, Gucci, Selfridges, and Bicester Village understand, is that the next generation of luxury spenders are not simply buying products, they are buying access, ease, memories, and a recognition of their loyalty.  For those  in an era where products are instantly compared online, personal experiences have triumphed ‘stuff.’ So what’s next? One thing we know for sure, is the future looks bright for VSPs and VICs.   

Read more about the events and experience that we have curated for luxury brands: