13 Key Trends to Watch in Luxury in 2023 and Beyond

By: Frank DePino | May 18, 2023

As 2023 draws near, luxury leaders across the industry are focusing on growth. Statistics show that revenue in the luxury goods market is more than $312 billion in 2022, and expected to grow more than 5% annually. With the luxury market looking strong, luxury brands across the industry must find ways to differentiate themselves in authentic, but actionable, ways. That’s why it’s crucial to look at existing and emerging luxury trends to act on. 

Following luxury trends can help brands: 

• Engage with their existing audience 
• Reach new audiences 
• Establish authority 
• Increase ROI 
• Boost visibility 

Read on to learn the top 13 luxury trends to watch, and how they can take your brand to the next level in 2023 and beyond. 

Key luxury trends to watch 

Luxury capitalizing on eCommerce 

Luxury brands across the sector must keep up with the latest in luxury eCommerce within the coming years. Why? According to Statista, it’s expected that 25% of global luxury goods sales will be made online by 2025. The more luxury brands can expand on their eCommerce efforts in a scalable way, the better. It will allow them to get ahead of the competition and get ready for more online-driven sales. 

Luxury in the metaverse 

The metaverse is a hot topic for numerous industries right now, including luxury. However, according to Statista, luxury brands didn’t score high on an August 2022 metaverse readiness survey. The three brands that scored the highest were Gucci, Louis Vuitton, and Burberry, each with an index value of 18 out of 100.  

So, what does that mean for luxury brands? It means that, as a luxury brand, you should start thinking about your metaverse strategy sooner rather than later. This will help you: 

• Break into a new frontier for luxury 
• Capitalize on a new business frontier 
• Get ahead of your competition 

Social-conscious luxury 

One of the biggest luxury trends to act on is social-conscious luxury. Social-conscious luxury is when luxury takes a stance on, and acts on, social issues, such as sustainability. 

Luxury brands should monitor social consciousness because publicly backing a social cause can influence consumers’ spending habits. According to Luxury Daily, which cites a study from Porter Novelli, more than 70% of consumers would prefer to buy from a purpose-driven company, as long as cost and quality were equal. Picking a social issue to back also supports your luxury branding initiatives, as it adds to your brand story and highlights your brand values. 

It’s critical to remember that it’s simply not enough to say you support a social issue. As a luxury brand, you must also show the world how you support that issue. Talking the talk without walking the walk, so to say, can make a brand look inauthentic. And being inauthentic can affect your bottom line, especially since, according to Social Media Today, 90% of buyers say authenticity is important when figuring out which brands to shop with. 

Must-know trends in luxury fashion

Owning the customer experience 

When it comes to luxury trends in fashion, one of the most important ones brands must capitalize on is owning the customer experience from beginning to end. As Save My Cent details, 60% of consumers expect excellent customer service when making luxury purchases, and 78% of customers expect to get a high-quality product that lasts. 

That means that, in addition to creating great pieces of fashion, luxury fashion brands need to focus on the customer experience from beginning to end. Every touchpoint, from the luxury website to the post-purchase email, should have one goal in mind: to convert, and delight, the consumer and provide the best customer experience possible. 

Effortless luxury for the win 

Effortless luxury is one of those luxury trends that can be carried over from the product area of the sector to the marketing area. It is just as it sounds—it’s no-frills luxury that feels natural in your life. While effortless luxury may be a trend fashion brands capitalize on, it’s an idea that can easily be transferred to the marketing side of luxury fashion. 

If your fashion brand is owning the effortless luxury aesthetic in its products, own it throughout every aspect of your marketing, too. Social media, email marketing, photography, copywriting—it should all be cohesive and embody the effortless luxury essence.

Important luxury hospitality trends

Emphasizing experience 

When looking at luxury trends in the hospitality industry, a key trend to look into is emphasizing experience. Luxury tends to capitalize on exclusivity, but it should also focus on the experience that exclusivity brings to the table. 

If people are shelling out cash for luxury hospitality, they’re going to expect a wonderful—and personalized—experience. Focusing on the experience can also work for marketing tactics. Crafting messages that emphasize the experience of luxury hospitality, instead of, say, the perks, can help you reach a new audience through emotion. 

Eco-conscious hospitality 

One of the biggest emerging luxury consumer trends to watch across all industries is eco-consciousness. Sustainability and eco-consciousness is increasingly on consumers’ minds, and as such, luxury sectors need to align their values with consumers’ values if they want long-term customers. 

When it comes to luxury hospitality, think of ways you can actively enact—and promote—sustainable practices. Think of strategies like: 

• Reducing plastic use
• Using recycled or upcycled furniture 
• Making a pledge to reduce carbon emissions 
• Buying ethically sourced hospitality products  

Luxury jewelry trends to monitor

Customers being the main focus 

Something crucial to remember when not looking at just luxury trends, but in your marketing materials for luxury jewelry, is to let the customer be the main focus from beginning to end. Luxury jewelry is often marketed as lucious, exclusive and high-quality—meaning it also comes with a higher price. 

Consumers today aren’t just looking for buzzwords that emphasize a product, though. They’re looking for messaging and services that focus on them, and even create a sense of community with their fellow luxury shoppers. If you’re in the luxury jewelry industry, evaluate your messaging and services and see where you can be more customer-focused.

Tapping into niche markets 

Tapping into niche markets is another effective trend that works for both luxury jewelry products and luxury jewelry marketing. Shopify defines a niche market as a portion of a bigger market that can be further defined by its specific qualities. It’s a more specific group of consumers with clearly defined preferences, setting them apart from the rest. 

Luxury jewelry can tap into niche markets both on the product side of the sector and on the marketing side. Niche marketing messages can help luxury jewelry brands target a specific, and more engaged, group of customers. Luxury is already a niche market, but getting more specific, like with specific jewelry pieces or with exclusive categories of jewelry (like sustainably sourced), allows brands to craft more specific messaging that could convert an engaged audience. 

Luxury retail trends to look for

Consumer-focused tech 

One of the biggest luxury consumer trends to watch in retail is the continued emergence of consumer-focused tech. According to Luxury Institute, it’s crucial for leaders in sales, marketing, and other customer-facing departments in luxury retail to embrace consumer-focused tech. Tech like videos, NFTs, and ethical behavioral data can help luxury retail brands build a closer connection with consumers and put them at the forefront of key initiatives. 

Adapting marketing messages to be consumer-focused can also help luxury retail brands with their initiatives. Instead of focusing on how great your product is, focus on how great it makes consumers feel for a more personal—and powerful—message. 

Marketing through storytelling 

Another trend to look at on the marketing side is to market your luxury retail brand through storytelling, and even brand storytelling. Brand storytelling is a powerful strategy that, when done right, demonstrates brand value while simultaneously building a community of consumers who share similar values. Luxury retail brands can use their brand storytelling (and general storytelling) chops to create effective and powerful marketing campaigns. 

As Forbes points out, storytelling is central to any marketing strategy’s success. As a luxury retail brand, it’s an important trend to capitalize on because it will do the following: 

• Help your brand stand out in a sea of digital content 
• Foster better relationships with your consumers—and help you understand them better 
• Demonstrates your brand value in an engaging and authentic way 

Major luxury travel trends to watch

Eco-conscious travel 

Sustainability and eco-consciousness are at the forefront of many industries right now. According to Forbes, the luxury sector as a whole is already adapting to new sustainable practices, like changing shipping strategies to reduce its carbon footprint. That’s why one of the key luxury trends to watch in luxury travel is eco-conscious travel. 

As Business Wire reports, sustainability is considered an important purchase criterion for 60% of global consumers, so aligning with that value is crucial for worldwide reach. Now, luxury travel brands must focus on creating those one-of-a-kind wanderlust experiences in a sustainable way. They must also look into tying that sustainability messaging into their marketing initiatives where it feels authentic and natural to capitalize on luxury consumer trends. 

Solo travel 

Solo travel has seen an increase over the last few years. According to Statista, solo trips continue to be a growing tourism trend, influenced by the lockdowns of the COVID-19 pandemic. When identifying luxury trends to watch, luxury travel brands should look to capitalize on solo travel. 

There are several ways to capitalize on solo travel on the marketing and content side of the business, including: 

• Creating content that targets solo travelers (including videos and articles)  
• Crafting paid ad campaigns that target solo travel keywords 
• Creating a new section on your website dedicated to solo travel (as long as it makes sense for your brand and overall business needs).

How can you stay on top of the latest luxury trends? 

Mediaboom can help your luxury brand identify the latest luxury trends and craft a comprehensive, yet authentic, approach to capitalizing on them. We’re here to enhance the overall luxury brand digital experience, whether it’s creating a beautiful website that boosts your inbound strategy or executing innovative luxury content marketing plans. Contact us today to get the conversation going.

By: Frank DePino

Frank DePino is Principal and Founder of Mediaboom. Since 2002, Frank has led Mediaboom’s award-winning staff of creative and technical professionals, building the most effective marketing and advertising solutions for its clients.