Luxury Brands Seek New Consumer Connections as End of Pandemic Remains Elusive

With consumers continuing to push back their expectations of when the pandemic will end, luxury brands are getting creative about how they reach consumers, trying to meet them where they are — whether that’s through their favorite alcohol or in a virtual world.

M.Gemi, for example, has partnered with Italian beer brand Peroni Nastro Azzurro to create a limited-edition collection of sneakers in an attempt to catch consumers’ attention. Maria Gangemi, co-founder and chief merchant of M.Gemi, told PYMNTS that the partnership with the beer brand was meant to acknowledge changing consumer trends while celebrating Italian culture.

M.Gemi was founded in 2015, selling handcrafted Italian shoes to American shoppers, as well as handbags, small leather goods and belts, but Gangemi said that after spending the better part of the last year at home, consumer styles have shifted to more comfortable attire. Even as restaurants, bars, stores and other in-person experiences begin to reopen, she said, “I have made sure to continue to incorporate comfort … into the pieces I choose, while also keeping things easy and stylish.”

“As style seekers head back to the office and in-person happy hours again, our sneaker collaboration will provide the perfect balance of comfort and refinement, all with an Italian twist,” Gangemi said.

The M.Gemi-Peroni partnership presents an opportunity for both brands to reach consumers who may not otherwise consider making a purchase and follows a growing number of luxury brands trying to capitalize on the connection between luxury and alcohol. For example, Moët Hennessy, the wine and spirits division of luxury goods company LVMH, and spirits company Campari Group, which owns Campari, Aperol, SKYY vodka and Wild Turkey bourbon, said in July they were partnering to create an eCommerce platform.

PYMNTS research finds that almost half of all consumers purchase alcohol online more during the pandemic than they did before its start. The consumers ordering alcohol online most often, whether for delivery in the future or the same day, are millennials, with Gen Z making up a significant portion of those ordering for delivery on a later date.

Related: Rivals LVMH And Campari Become Partners In European Online Alcohol Market

Balenciaga also last week dropped a collection of virtual items in the online game Fornite, with real-world merchandise also available in-store and online; and several brands, including Dior, Prada and Ted Baker, have been experimenting with pop-up shops to catch consumers outside of city centers, where sales are often driven by store traffic.

Read more: Luxury Pops Up For The Summer

Cautiously Rebounding

Luxury sales took a 23% hit last year when the vast majority of the world was forced inside and people put fashion on the back burner. But sales have begun to rebound in recent months, with Bain & Co. saying earlier this year that luxury goods could fully rebound next year — a faster turnaround than a previous projection that saw luxury stuck in pre-pandemic levels through 2023.

And last month, Farfetch, which works as a global platform for the luxury industry, said it has seen its gross merchandise volume exceed $1 billion since last year. José Neves, Farfetch founder, chair and CEO, said at the time that he is “truly impressed with the resilience of the luxury industry.”

Any hope of predicting when the pandemic will end, though, remains elusive, with consumers continuing to push back their expectations month after month. PYMNTS data show that the anticipated “end” date of the pandemic now stretches well into the winter of 2021 and the early months of 2022.

Read: Pandemic Will Linger Into 2022, Say Consumers, Before We’re ‘Back to Normal’

Still, consumers seem to be less concerned about COVID-19 than they were in months prior, with the share of consumers who say they’re “very” or “extremely” concerned about the pandemic at 29% at the end of July, down from 70% a year earlier.

And going into the holiday shopping season, luxury goods may have an advantage. Spending projections from Mastercard show an expected 93% year-over-year increase in the purchase of luxury goods in November and December and a 56% increase versus 2019.

Read also: Holiday 2021: Pent-Up Consumer Demand, Test of In-Store Experience For Retailers

Steve Sadove, senior adviser at Mastercard, told Karen Webster in a recent conversation that he sees “an enormous amount of excitement about newness in fashion.”

“You’re going to see a lot of self-purchases, but also the gifting purchases,” he said.