In today’s consumer led world understanding “who” your customer is and what they want from you is crucial. Only with this knowledge in place can you start to tailor the right shopping experience to your consumers, leading to increased acquisition, conversion and loyalty across all channels. To put this in perspective, recent research from Econsultancy found that marketers, on average, see a 19% uplift in sales when they personalise their web experiences to their customers.

As we work with our clients to help them understand their customer base, we often hear them say “We know exactly who our customer is, it’s [insert an ideal customer profile cooked up in a board room years ago].”

So many retailers are basing their marketing on their vision of who they want their customer to be and NOT who they actually are.

Having an idea in your head of who you are selling your product to is a crucial starting point when creating a brand and a marketing strategy. However, once you’ve created a customer base, you need to pay attention to who they actually are and why they bought from you in the first place and start to tailor your marketing accordingly around those who are likely to spend the most with you.

Below are five myths we often come across about premium consumers:

Myth 1: Premium consumers are all rich

It depends on what you class as rich, but in truth, many of our clients’ customers are not extremely wealthy and a large proportion of them save up to purchase their products. If treated well at the beginning of their relationship with you, these lower income customers can turn out to be high value loyal customers over time.

Myth 2: Premium consumers are all glamourous and beautiful

I am sure many of them are, but a great deal of those who buy premium products are normal people with normal shaped bodies and normal lifestyles. Don’t ignore them. You may not want them as brand flagbearers, BUT alienating them will not do you any favours. We have found in our research that a high percentage of fashion consumers value images of the products they are buying on real life models.

Myth 3: Premium consumers are not price conscious

Don’t assume that if people can afford to buy high ticket items they are not price conscious. The buying drivers for many have changed over recent years, and although a more affluent customer may have money to spend, they are still looking for good quality and value for their purchases.

In a survey to Leapfrogg’s Premium Panel we found that 30% of premium consumers feel more valued by a brand who gives them money off their purchases.

Myth 4: Premium consumers expect more from the brands they buy from

There is an assumption that premium customers expect more from their shopping experience that those buying from cheaper suppliers. This is wrong; today’s modern consumer expects a top experience whether they are buying from Amazon or Harrods. The product and packaging may be superior, but they still expect a high level of customer service, speedy delivery and returns and that any problems that arise are dealt with quickly and efficiently

Myth 5: Premium consumers prefer to buy from stores than online

In the past this may have been the case, but those buying from luxury brands are getting younger and younger – they ‘live’ online and frequently buy high value items. Bricks and mortar stores will always play a role in the premium shopping experience, but the role of online will only grow.

The above are just some of the incorrect assumptions we see made about premium consumers on a regular basis. There are many ways of discovering more about your customers which you can read about in my previous blog post: Customer Insight – what you should know and why.

 

Image via: Death To The Stock Photo