Luxury retailers are focusing on aspirational customers

Many retailers including luxury as well as moderate stores are focusing on “aspirational luxury customers.” These customers are not wealthy but they generally buy one or two luxury name brands a year.

They typically spend almost $274 billion a year, making them an important part of the customer base, according to McKinsey & Company. Think of that Louis Vuitton purse or that ROLEX watch that some people buy and use them frequently. The outlet mall shopper is often considered an aspirational customer.

Luxury brands can see a boon off smaller products priced between $400 and $1,000 — price points where less affluent shoppers might be willing to splurge. Leather goods and accessories, such as belts, eyewear and fragrances, are typically lower-priced products that interest aspirational luxury consumers, according to Joëlle Grunberg, who leads McKinsey’s apparel, fashion and luxury sector in North America.

Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, the world’s largest luxury group, is among the brands that continue to offer lines of lower-priced leather goods and accessories to appeal to aspirational customers.

Read more: Aspirational buyers could save luxury brands from losing more ground (CNN Business)