Experiential luxury vs. material purchase: New balance of brand strategies

Fashion United

3 days ago

The phenomenon is observed across the globe. Affected by the economic situation, consumers are turning away from material acquisition in favour of, at times, experience. Initiatives like 'The Louis' by Louis Vuitton in Shanghai raise the question of the effectiveness of this immersive shift. Is it a long-term brand-building exercise, or can we expect a measurable increase in sales in the short and medium term? How does Louis Vuitton differentiate itself from its competitors in this race for experience?
The Louis is the latest and most striking example of this phenomenon. We will therefore begin with this example, as well as the Chinese market. China is a textbook case for this phenomena, as it harbours flagship initiatives and luxury habits were among the first to change on a large scale. Between declining local demand, inflation, changing consumer habits, experiential initiatives by already iconic brands and the key role of social media, this market offers fertile ground for analysis to dissect the effect at play here. Experience over possession
After decades of domination, the Chinese luxury market is embarking on a new trajectory, punctuated by unexpected turns and fundamental transformations. According to Bain & Company, Chinese consumer spending on personal luxury goods fell by 18 to 20 percent in 2023, standing at around 350 billion yuan (approximately 49 billion dollars), with stagnation expected for 2025.
This contraction is partly explained by a shift in consumer priorities. Shaken by the economic situation and uncertainties linked to the property market, many Chinese buyers are now turning to experiences, such as travel, dining out, or well-being, rather than material acquisitions.
This phenomenon, summarised by a Prada customer quoting "I no longer buy stuff" in an interview given for The Economic Times, while visiting a café of the brand, is revealing. It is clear that this is not a rejection of luxury, nor a rejection of brands, but rather a shift in desire. This is turning towards experience, memory, the moment, social sharing, rather than the object itself. Towards the symbolic and the collective rather than pure individual status. It is a transmutation of brand attachment: the consumer belongs to the brand community without necessarily acquiring the object. Immediacy as a response to the risk of obsolescence
If experience speaks louder than material goods, this questions the dynamics of consumption. What incentives may have led consumers to make this change? Part of the answer may lie in the fact that buying an expensive luxury item can now seem risky if market tastes or financial situations change rapidly. Customers are more hesitant today to tie up thousands of pounds in an object that could quickly become "dated". Obsolescence is no longer limited to technology or fashion dictates; it is now deeply imprinted in perception.
Paradoxically, in contemporary luxury, the "new" is also what expires the fastest. This highlights the need for immediacy. Or as we could put it, "Obsolescence is already too long. Might as well consume the moment." Rather than risking a purchase that quickly goes out of fashion, the customer consumes a moment, a lived and shared emotion, which cannot be outdated. The product may lose its perceived value, but the memory and the photo remain. This is the DNA of experiential retail, which consists of offering an intangible value, ephemeral but emotionally strong, and which will never be "unsaleable" in the future. This sociological trend sees Gen Z and Millennials favouring story-value more than use-value, as confirmed by Euromonitor and McKinsey.
While spending on luxury goods is down overall by 1 to 3 percent, Bain notes that spending on immersive experiences, hotels or restaurants climbed 5 percent in 2024. For brands, the problem is twofold. Firstly, an experience is expensive to produce, including prime space, design and staff. Secondly, it has a low average ticket (for example, a coffee at 10-20 dollars is a far cry from a 3,000 dollar bag). The immediate return on investment (ROI) is low; the effect is mainly on image and brand equity. The challenge is therefore to maintain a high level of profitability when the heart of the market is moving towards intangible assets. The Louis in Shanghai. Credits: Louis Vuitton The Louis: spectacle or sales catalyst?
Faced with this situation, The Louis, Louis Vuitton's new flagship in Shanghai, embodies this experiential strategy. Combining a traditional shop, café, exhibition space and "Instagrammable" areas, it aims to generate buzz as much as direct sales. Louis Vuitton is focusing on immersion to reactivate the interest of a clientele that has become more cautious.
The success of The Louis in terms of virality is undeniable. The massive influx of visitors and the generation of viral content reinforce media impressions, as corroborated by Reuters. However, the direct translation of this visibility into concrete sales of high-margin products (leather goods, jewellery) remains difficult to measure. As one customer pointed out to Reuters: "It gives a different feeling… even if it's unlikely to translate into purchases", remarks echoed by The Business of Fashion.
This dynamic is all the more crucial given that LVMH recorded an 11 percent drop in sales in Asia-Pacific (excluding Japan) in the first quarter of 2025, with an 18 percent decline in China in 2023. While these figures are also influenced by the global economic situation and exchange rates, Bain & Company stresses the importance of the price gap between mainland China and other markets, particularly Japan. In 2024, luxury shopping abroad accounted for 40 percent of total Chinese consumer spending on luxury goods, reaching around 50 percent of 2019 levels in Europe and 120 percent in Asia-Pacific. Faced with these realities, brands have reacted by imposing purchase limits or aligning global prices, highlighting the imperative of a coherent global pricing strategy in a volatile environment. Experience or product: a balance to be found
So how can luxury houses truly embrace this experiential strategy? What do they ultimately gain by focusing on these formats? The logic of experiential retail is based on a key principle: despite a low direct ROI, these places become powerful platforms for acquisition and loyalty. A café, an immersive exhibition or a pop-up rarely generate immediate sales to match the investment, but they allow data to be captured, via QR codes, apps, or memberships, to activate social word-of-mouth, and to attract customers who would not have crossed the threshold of a traditional shop. This fills the top of the sales funnel, namely awareness and consideration, and fuels subsequent conversion, online or in flagships, particularly among younger generations and "occasional" customers. What makes The Louis different: the winning hybridisation
Louis Vuitton's approach with The Louis in Shanghai is a case study in experiential strategy. The brand seeks to differentiate itself through hybridisation designed to maximise engagement and, ultimately, conversion, by merging spectacle, culture and sales into an optimised customer journey. Iconic architecture and buzz catalyst
At 30 metres high on Nanjing Road, The Louis flagship forcefully proclaims the brand's ambitions. Instantly identifiable, this visual landmark with its disruptive and iconoclastic architecture is inherently "Instagrammable". It generates immediate buzz, spontaneous and massive media coverage, and acts as a powerful eye-catcher.
Much more than a simple point of sale, it stands as a major milestone in Louis Vuitton's identity in Shanghai. A place designed to nurture digital aesthetics, disseminate an instant visual narrative on social media, and assert a strong presence in the identity map that the brand intends to draw in the Shanghai landscape. Mixed content and emotional immersion
This architectural boldness continues inside, where the space is designed as a veritable myriad of experiences. The Louis deploys a mix of ephemeral museums, themed cafés and areas specifically designed for sharing on social media. This overall approach allows for deep psychological immersion, appealing to the visitor far beyond the mere intention of immediate purchase. It is no longer a question of pushing a product, but of inviting people on an emotional and cultural journey that creates a powerful emotional bond with the brand, transforming visitors into content ambassadors and visibility generators. Sophisticated targeting and controlled viralisation
The Louis' activation programme does not target the undifferentiated general public, but is part of a precise viralisation strategy. It specifically targets ultra-high-net-worth individuals (UHNWIs) and key influencers. By addressing these opinion leaders and trendsetters, Louis Vuitton ensures organic and desired dissemination of the brand message.
This approach offers considerable ROPO (Research Online, Purchase Offline) potential, as analysed by Kung Fu Data, a Chinese e-commerce data company recognised as the partner of choice for fashion, lifestyle and performance. The customer journey is thus calibrated to encourage online research and, ultimately, in-store conversion, after the physical experience. Alignment and power of social commerce
The Louis is perfectly in tune with the acceleration of the "experiential luxury" market, which has seen spending increase by 5 percent despite the decline in purchases of personal products, according to The Exchange Asia. Louis Vuitton is building on this profound dynamic, offering what the Chinese consumer is actively seeking, namely memorable and shareable moments, rather than simple possession.
In China, the power of social commerce is a major conversion driver and intrinsic to these experiential strategies. It now accounts for 14 to 21 percent of e-commerce in six months, with platforms like Douyin and Xiaohongshu facilitating conversion via content and live shopping, reports Daxue Consulting. Conversion rates via live commerce can reach nearly 30 percent, according to McKinsey & Company, ten times higher than traditional channels. Brands like Dior and Gucci are already actively integrating their physical shops, livestreams and social commerce strategies for a seamless customer journey.
The principle of ROPO is at the heart of this hybridisation. Today's Chinese consumer researches, compares and gets inspiration online (via social media or immersive experiences like The Louis), but still frequently makes the final purchase in a physical shop. The experience generates buzz and flow. The data collected (via QR codes, WeChat mini-programmes, CRM) is then used for targeted follow-up (invitations to private sales, personalised fittings). The physical shop then becomes the culmination of the conversion, allowing for a higher average basket and a deeper customer relationship. Competitive comparison: a more structured hybridisation
While other brands are exploring experiential avenues, The Louis stands out for the depth and integration of its approach.
The Prada Rong Zhai in Shanghai, for example, is a magnificent historic villa converted into a cultural space by Wong Kar-Wai, targeting a Gen Z and cultural clientele, focused on art and heritage, as highlighted by KrASIA, specialising in deciphering China's innovative economy. Similarly, the Dior Cafés in Chengdu focus on sensory immersion and an exclusive atmosphere, observes Reuters. The Dior Café in Seoul, the Prada Rong Zhai, and the Gucci Circolo are examples of venues that excel at collecting data and creating qualified traffic, thus fuelling deferred conversion online or in flagships.
However, The Louis goes one step further. It is not just a café or an exhibition, but a hybrid flagship on a spectacular scale, every element of which is designed for an integrated and structured digital strategy (via ROPO and social commerce). Where other initiatives can sometimes remain isolated in their function (purely cultural or purely gastronomic), The Louis combines these dimensions with a more manifest intention to convert and a more fluid customer journey, aiming for maximum efficiency in a demanding market. Game theory applied to luxury experiential strategies
Each initiative, whether aimed at image, customer acquisition or pure influence, presents unique challenges. How can luxury houses truly find their way in this fierce competition? The analysis of luxury marketing strategies can be approached from the perspective of game theory, where brands adjust their moves according to those of their competitors in a market with limited resources.
We can consider three main strategies, namely Core Product sales (traditional), pure experience (Pure Experiential), and the hybrid approach (Hybrid).
The traditional sales strategy, centred on the Core Product, aims for direct sales and immediate turnover, offering a high ROI thanks to high margins. Customer acquisition is limited, relying on spontaneous traffic and a captive clientele, with immediate in-store conversion. The brand image is elitist, rare and status-driven, but this approach presents risks of disaffection among young audiences and does not generate a significant buzz effect. It relies on the timelessness, quality and rarity of the product.
The pure experience, such as a café, exhibition or art space, has the main role of notoriety, image and buzz. Its direct ROI is low, even negative, but it excels in acquiring new audiences, especially young people and influencers. Direct conversion to purchase is rare, the image being cultural, creative and open. The risks are linked to a low ROI and a dilution of exclusivity, but it highlights the experience, storytelling and culture of the brand.
Finally, the hybrid approach, illustrated by The Louis or the Dior Cafés integrating retail, combines acquisition and activation (via ROPO and social commerce) with storytelling. The ROI is average, as it relies on deferred sales, a higher average basket and CRM enrichment. Customer acquisition is high and qualified, with conversion sometimes deferred via ROPO or live streaming. The image is both prestigious, emotional and close to digital. The risks are linked to high costs and management complexity, but this strategy merges the iconic product with the memorable experience.
The strategic dilemma is clear. If all competitors opt solely for pure spectacle, the risk is visual saturation and a creative arms race where costs explode for an increasingly diluted "wow" effect. Buzz becomes noise and customers become mere passive spectators. Conversely, a strategy purely focused on the "core product" would risk alienating younger generations, missing out on social buzz and failing to broaden the customer base, isolating the brand in a niche that is certainly profitable but without growth.
The competitive advantage seems to be increasingly returning to brands that succeed in hybridisation. This format mixes the best of both worlds. It attracts a wider audience (like pure spectacle) and generates buzz, but it also integrates points of contact for sales and data capture. The "rational" balance often lies in this hybrid strategy, as it is more complete and potentially more profitable in the long term. However, if all brands adopt it, differentiation will depend on the quality of the experience, the relevance of the content and the effectiveness of digital integration. The ability to preserve exclusivity while broadening the audience then becomes the key to an asymmetry of information and emotion that the purely "core" or purely "experiential" competitor cannot capture. Towards profitable luxury emotion?
Faced with a Chinese market that has become more selective, the immersive experience is less an alternative than a lever for activation and loyalty. Rather than forcing the sale, The Louis chooses to build desire - a risky gamble in a post-pandemic China where luxury has to be earned. It's about anchoring the brand in the collective imagination in order to better capture, later on, more considered consumer choices.
This multi-dimensional strategic approach aims to consolidate the brand's foundations over time. On the one hand, it aims to initiate sustainable product conversion, based on a renewed image and strengthened intangible capital. On the other hand, it seeks to optimise short and medium-term returns by leveraging powerful digital levers: social commerce, ROPO (Research Online, Purchase Offline) and in-store lead generation, thus transforming emotion into purchasing acts for high-end leather goods and other high-value products. Finally, the brand strives to carve out its uniqueness. The Louis stands out for its sheer size, its deeply hybrid nature and its integrated digital strategy, where other competing initiatives remain more segmented or less structured for conversion.
The hybrid café-museum-shop model functions as an accelerator of emotional attachment, rather than a simple sales channel. The challenge, therefore, is to measure its effectiveness not only in terms of footfall or virality, but in terms of concrete returns on the sale of high-margin products. Success now depends on the brand's ability to connect this intangible capital to profitable customer journeys, via ROPO, enriched CRM databases, and the organisation of social commerce.
In short, The Louis embodies a fundamental trend in the world of luxury. The product is no longer sold, it is staged, experienced, recounted. It is no longer just an object to be sold, but an experience to be lived, a story to be shared. The act of buying becomes the culmination of a narrative.
It is still necessary, however, for this narrative, in order to translate into business performance, to be conceived as a conversion tool, and not merely as a demonstration of creative power. This article was translated to English using an AI tool.
FashionUnited uses AI language tools to speed up translating (news) articles and proofread the translations to improve the end result. This saves our human journalists time they can spend doing research and writing original articles. Articles translated with the help of AI are checked and edited by a human desk editor prior to going online. If you have questions or comments about this process email us at [e-mail]