High-end retail in harmony with online shopping.This spring has welcomed particularly encouraging economic reports and heightened consumer confidence. Investors are reaping the benefits from a record setting run on Wall Street and the country's steady economic growth is fueling optimism. The stock market's climb seems to be unstoppable and enthusiasm has permeated the retail community. In particular, the e-commerce sector has soared, with luxury retail reports underscoring the benefits of Internet traffic Internet traffic is the flow of data around the Internet. It includes web traffic, which is the amount of that data that is related to the World Wide Web, along with the traffic from other major uses of the Internet, such as electronic mail and peer-to-peer networks. . One flourishing retail phenomenon that has made shopping a 24/7 activity is online shopping. While nothing beats browsing a gilded gild 1 tr.v. gild·ed or gilt , gild·ing, gilds 1. To cover with or as if with a thin layer of gold. 2. To give an often deceptively attractive or improved appearance to. 3. window on Fifth or Madison Avenues, or a hip boutique in SoHo or the Meatpacking meatpacking or meat-processing, wholesale business of buying and slaughtering animals and then processing and distributing their carcasses to retailers. The livestock industry is among the largest in the world. District, dedicated shoppers are also becoming savvy online purchasers. Department stores This is a list of department stores. In the case of department store groups the location of the flagship store is given. This list does not include large specialist stores, which sometimes resemble department stores. , including Federated Connected and treated as one. See federated database and federated directories. and J.C. Penney, have recognized the trend and augmented their Internet operations as of late, but luxe luxe n. 1. The condition of being elegantly sumptuous. 2. Something luxurious; a luxury. [French, luxury, from Latin luxus. designers are still leading the way. Based on a recent study that counts the number of times apparel brands are entered into search engines, Louis Vuitton The Louis Vuitton Company (more commonly known simply as Louis Vuitton) is a luxury French fashion and leather goods brand and company, headquartered in Paris, France. It is a division of the French holding company, LVMH Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy S.A. has the highest search volume, with more than 315,000 searches in the month of February alone. Sporty sport·y adj. sport·i·er, sport·i·est 1. Appropriate for sport or participation in sports. 2. Exhibiting sportsmanship; sporting. 3. Flashy; jazzy. brands Nike and Adidas rank two and three, and Gucci and Chanel round out the top five. The prevalence of online shopping among luxury-minded shoppers is a unique complement to brick-and-mortar stores. Consumers who visit Manhattan actively seek out shops whose websites they have explored because perhaps they do not have that store where they live. This makes our retail landscape even more successful--tourists especially love Tiffany, Louis Vuitton, Gucci and Coach. E-commerce has also worked its way into the shopping cycle as a supplement to fashion magazines. In the same way high-end retail thrives in both tourist and business centers, luxury brands that are splashed across the pages of Vogue, Vanity Fair and InStyle are very successful. Luxury consumers read these magazines and identify "must-have" styles or designers, yet many do not have time to go to a store in person. Buyers enjoy logging on to a website from anywhere--even a business trip or vacation--and making purchases. Recent studies confirm the importance of the Internet to luxury shopping. Americans with a high disposable income disposable income Portion of an individual's income over which the recipient has complete discretion. To assess disposable income, it is necessary to determine total income, including not only wages and salaries, interest and dividend payments, and business profits, but also are avid Internet users and enjoy the convenience of online shopping. Many are just as likely to shop online at work as they are from the comfort of their own home. According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. a survey by the Luxury Institute, almost every American making more than $150,000 a year admits to making online purchases, and more than half say they do so frequently. Even if a shopper is uncomfortable making an online purchase, the Internet is a valuable tool for research--99% of people say that, when they are in the market for a certain item, they log on to various websites before going to a physical store. As expected, women are especially willing to use the Internet for shopping, 63% of women shop online, compared to 48% of men. 62% of those with an income higher than $500,000 or a net worth in excess of $5 million identify themselves as frequent online shoppers. Whenever you shop online, you are contributing to one of the many trends that is boosting our economy. This season, expect demand in the luxury sector to be very strong and for the Internet to continue to be a major market driver. FAITH HOPE CONSOLO, CHAIRMAN, RETAIL LEASING AND SALES DIVISION PRUDENTIAL DOUGLAS ELLIMAN |
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