COVID-19 has been a challenging time for everyone, but for luxury brands, it was akin to adding aviation fuel to an inferno. Retail sales had been on a gradual decline even before the pandemic, largely due to dwindling foot traffic and the unstoppable rise of e-commerce.
Between 2014 and 2017, online sales grew tenfold, driven by global mobile internet penetration, especially in emerging markets. Yet it wasn’t connectivity alone that powered this boom.
The true engine was big data and machine learning, enabling platforms to understand, segment, and predict customer behaviour with astonishing precision.
Many in luxury, however, remain sceptical. Can algorithms truly capture the essence of exclusivity?
Rethinking the luxury experience
For decades, luxury shopping conjured images of being ushered into an opulent flagship boutique, being greeted by name, offered a drink, and attended to with warmth and poise. Yet, reality often falls short. Many experiences today are transactional at best, uninspired at worst.
The pandemic has made one thing abundantly clear: luxury brands must redefine what they offer and how they connect with consumers.
The online-versus-offline debate is obsolete. These worlds have merged, and COVID-19 merely accelerated what was already inevitable. Digital behaviour has become habitual, and even when physical stores reopen fully, the digital journey will continue to shape luxury perceptions long before a customer steps through the door.
From a brand perspective
Luxury houses must first clarify what their brand truly stands for. This clarity must cascade internally, not just as lofty words in a brand book, but as actionable principles staff can embody daily.
I remember, in my younger days as a service staff, being told to deliver “an unforgettable, top-notch experience.” The problem? No two employees understood what that meant, and frankly, neither did the managers. Without a shared definition, consistency is impossible.
The same is true for luxury today. If leadership cannot articulate how their brand values translate into daily interactions, neither store teams nor digital marketers will be able to deliver them effectively.
From an offline perspective
Once, we had no choice but to accept mediocre service. Today, that tolerance is gone. Every in-store experience must be intentional, and each touchpoint should reaffirm the brand’s purpose.
For me, luxury is not only about the product; it’s about the story and emotion surrounding it.
One of my favourite examples is Mad About Sucre in Singapore, an award-winning restaurant offering handcrafted cakes, fine cuisine, and bespoke cocktails. What keeps me returning is not just the food, but the passion of Eric and his team. They share the inspiration behind each dish, turning every visit into a journey of discovery. That authenticity is what luxury should feel like.
Without such differentiation, even the finest products risk becoming forgettable.
From an online perspective
If you’re already bidding on relevant keywords and monitoring your ROAS, that’s a good start. If you’re retargeting effectively with an optimal frequency–CPA balance, even better.
But those are only the basics.
Without regular audits (at least twice a year) or systematic competitor benchmarking, even the most well-funded brand can lose ground. In today’s landscape, dominance is earned through relevance, not budget size.
Brands that win are those that create meaningful, data-driven, and emotionally resonant content, the kind that speaks to aspiration as much as it does to analytics.
Be humble, be hungry
COVID-19 has been a humbling equaliser. If your brand hasn’t yet questioned its practices, it’s time to do so, before the market does it for you.
This moment is rare. It offers a global pause, a reset button. Use it to evaluate whether your brand’s promises still hold true for your consumers today.
While no one knows how long the next disruption will last, one thing is certain: the compromises made today could be the cause of failure tomorrow.
— Terrence Quah