A new survey by the Luxury Institute, conducted among the top 10% earners in the US, the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and China, has found that quality and customer service are the two most important attributes that affluent consumers use to define a product’s luxury status. According to Gem Konnect, jewelry and hospitality brands have the best customer service staff, while real estate and designer shoes were rated the worst in that regard.
In addition, customers in the UK and US are more likely to rate customer service as a necessity for luxury than customers in Japan and China. Superior design ranks third in the list of luxury attributes, and it is more important to UK and US customers than in other countries.
59% of US respondents and 33% of respondents across the other six countries ranked superior craftsmanship in fourth place.
Luxury Institute CEO Milton Pedraza said: “Half of the affluent consumers we just surveyed say that luxury sales associates deliver a personalised and relationship-oriented experience, which is encouraging, but it also suggests plenty of room for improvement when it comes to delivering a superior customer experience”.
