How affluent shoppers see a heritage luxury brand

What is shaping fashion

Fashion and apparel brands need to read trends early, get fit and size right and turn browsing into buying across stores and e-commerce.

• Trends travel quickly through social media
• Fit and size issues drive returns
• Online shoppers need confidence before buying

A European luxury accessories brand, working in Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan & UAE. Client identity is withheld to protect confidentiality.

Organisation

A European luxury accessories brand

Sector

Fashion

Team engaged

Market Research

Services

Qualitative research, Quantitative research, Reporting & insights

The brand was respected for craftsmanship but losing younger affluent customers to brands seen as more modern. Leadership wanted to understand perceptions in its key Asian and Gulf markets before a brand refresh.

• Answer the core question: how affluent shoppers see a heritage luxury brand.
• Measure how widespread each pattern is, and explain the reasons behind it.
• Give the client evidence it can act on within 9 weeks.

Scope: 48 interviews, 900 survey respondents.

Audiences we typically reach in fashion

Fashion shoppersOnline buyersStore staffStylists and influencersWholesale buyers

Coverage: Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan & UAE. Markets: Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan and United Arab Emirates.

• Japan
• Hong Kong
• Taiwan
• United Arab Emirates

A mixed-method design: structured research measured how widespread each pattern was, and qualitative conversations explained why.

1. 1Brief
2. 2In-depth interviews with affluent shoppers
3. 3Online survey
4. 4Insight

Senior researchers interviewed affluent shoppers in Japanese, Cantonese, Mandarin, Arabic and English about luxury purchases, brand associations and in-store experiences. A survey measured brand image among a wider group of luxury buyers.

Qualitative researchQuantitative researchReporting & insights

• Online respondents were drawn from verified panel members who matched the screening criteria, with quotas on key profile attributes.
• Qualitative participants were recruited purposively to cover the full range of experiences that mattered, rather than for statistical representation.

interviews

48

survey respondents

900

• The online survey was mobile-friendly and offered in respondents' languages.
• Interviews and discussions were led by experienced moderators using a guide agreed with the client.

• Digital fingerprinting and duplicate checks
• Attention, speed and straight-lining checks
• Review of open-ended answers
• Recordings and transcripts for every session
• Re-screening of qualitative recruits
• Logic and range checks on the final data
• Work carried out under our ISO 20252 quality procedures

• Cross-tabulation by key groups and locations
• Significance testing on the differences that mattered
• Thematic coding of interviews and discussions
• Journey and decision mapping

• Shoppers admired the brand’s heritage but found its designs too conservative and its stores intimidating.
• Sales associates were also trained to share the brand’s craftsmanship stories in a warmer, more personal way.

Heritage was an asset only when paired with relevance.

• Build on the core insight: heritage was an asset only when paired with relevance.
• Focus effort where the evidence was strongest: shoppers admired the brand’s heritage but found its designs too conservative and its stores intimidating.
• Re-measure after the changes to confirm the effect.

• The refresh introduced contemporary collaborations and a warmer in-store service approach, while keeping heritage at the core.

What changed in the business as a result of the work. Impact is described qualitatively.

• Insight report and management presentation
• Cleaned data file and data tables
• Interview summaries and key verbatims

• Repeat the measure after changes are in place to track progress.
• A natural follow-on question: why are returns high?