Online sales of luxury goods up by 20%

Online sales of luxury goods are expected to grow at a staggering rate of 20% a year, reaching € 11 billion by 2015. Major role played by social media: “luxury brands friends” on Facebook grow at 136% annual rate.

Luxury consumers get more and more digital, in regards of both online sales and buzz in blogs, websites and online forums. These are the main findings of the Digital Luxury Experience - Altagamma Observatory, the study that analyzes the online presence and performance of high-end international brands and of the behavior of their customers that was presented yesterday in Paris and Milan.

In the same vein, JPMorgan forecasts global e-commerce revenue to grow dramatically this year to US$680 billion (Dh2.49 trillion), up 18.9 per cent compared with last year.

It well is worthy a remark to say that the online shopping revolution does not understand of borders as Simon Marshall, the chief executive of Fawaz Alhokair, a Saudi retail chain with more than 1,000 stores around the Middle East, forecasts online sales to make up 20 to 25 per cent of total sales within five years.

"Online is a massive opportunity. It's significant for us," he said. Fawaz Alhokair holds about 50 per cent of the mass market retail segment in Saudi Arabia, with brands such as Marks & Spencer, Gap and Zara. "Saudi Arabia has one of the highest internet-usage-per-person [ratios] in the region," said Mr Marshall. "Shopping is still one of the major experiences."

Angela González-Rodríguez

Image: Louis Vuitton SS12