Commentary

Affluents Do What Affluents Do

According to Martini Media, announcing the results of their latest Affluent Online Shopper Index Powered by comScore, examining the online holiday shopping behaviors of the online affluent audience, affluent shoppers are 40% more likely to make a purchase on luxury retail sites; spend 80% more on average; are 15% more likely to make an online purchase across all categories than less affluent shoppers; and, on average, spent 19% more per purchase.

In key sales categories like apparel and accessories and jewelry and watches, the affluent shoppers spent 80% more than the average shopper. Affluent consumers were 41% more likely to make a purchase on luxury retail sites (e.g., Bloomingdales.com, Sephora.com and Tiffany.com) and on average spent $295 (182 index compared to those with HHI < $100K).

This study measured behaviors and engagement levels of the online affluent audience (HHI $100K+) by indexing affluent users against non-affluent online users (HHI < $100K) to provide a precise picture of how this coveted segment acts online during the all-important holiday season. It then integrated comScore's passively measured online panel of 1 million U.S. Internet users to detail online shopping, search and site visitation data for the affluent audience.

The chief trend revealed by the study's latest findings indicates that affluent shoppers out-research and outspend other online shopping segments. During the critical Black Friday-Cyber Monday time period:

  • Affluent users outspent across categories. Persons with HHI $100K+ were 15% more likely to make on online purchase than those with HHI < $100K, and on average, those that made an online purchase spent $113 (119 index)
  • In the apparel, accessories and jewelry category, on average affluent shoppers spent $141 (180 index)
  • Martini Media, with comScore, created a "custom category" of affluent retailers, which includes Bloomingdales, Coach, Lululemon, Macys, Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, Ralph Lauren, REI, Saks Fifth Avenue, Sephora, Talbots, Tiffany & Co., and Victoria's Secret. Among affluent shoppers who purchased online at these e-commerce sites, they spent an average of $295 (182 index)
  • In addition to e-commerce, affluent shoppers are researching online for offline purchases. 17% of affluent users visited one of these luxury retailers' websites during the five days measured around Thanksgiving. 
  • Users with HHI $100K+ were 14x more likely to visit one of the 70 luxury retailer websites measured by comScore than they were to make an online purchase from one of those domains. In addition, a larger percentage searched for "luxury" retail terms including these retailers and brands like Armani, David Yurman and Gucci. 
  • Affluent users were 6x more likely to search for a luxury brand term than to make an online purchase from one of the measured domains in the analysis.

According to independent research expert Michele Madansky, "... these data imply that online research is triggering offline purchases at a much larger scale in the luxury retail category..."

Martini Media CEO, Skip Brand, said "... the affluent simply spend money to save time, and online is the best way to do that... affluent audiences are always wired, have very little 'free' time and more disposable income than any other segment...”

Andrew Lipsman, VP, marketing and industry analysis for comScore, says that “.... with greater amounts of disposable income, but a desire for convenience, affluent consumers have increasingly turned to the online channel for their shopping needs... “

For additional information from Martini Media, please visit here; to view an infographic containing data from the study, visit here.

 

 

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