Last week at their Manhattan flagship location, De Beers Diamond Jewellers celebrated the launch of their new and incredibly in-depth website, Debeers.com.

The event was intimate and insightful, as we toured through each collection, the new website and a viewing of their one-of-a-kind patented technology, the De Beers Marque.

For connoisseurs and first-time buyers alike, De Beers has truly transformed Debeers.com into the ultimate destination for a definitive reference for diamond jewelry.

“The new Debeers.com and the accompanying digital campaign mark an important step for De Beers Diamond Jewellers. It is a truly immersive experience that brings our art of diamond jewellery to light-with beautiful images, bespoke content from diamond jewellery experts and a unique insight into our design creations. We see it as the definitive diamond information resource, expressing our role as the diamond mentor for consumers,” said CEO Francois Delage.

The most fascinating feature from De Beers is the De Beers Marque. This is an engraving on the inside of the diamond impossible to see with the naked eye. Imprinted are the words “De Beers” with an identification number below. Unlike certification techniques used by other jewellers, the Marque can not be tampered with or removed, even by a laser. The impenetrable nature of this technique gives the consumer the ultimate piece of mind knowing their diamond is safely catalogued in the De Beers Diamond Registry. Corresponding to each diamond is the De Beers Passport, documenting the specifications of your diamond and ensuring that every single De Beers Diamond is natural, untreated, conflict-free and responsibly sourced and manufactured.

With rough diamond prices set to rise on increased US demand from a recovering economy, and China and India set to balance out an anticipated drop in Japanese diamond consumption, {Reuters} the new website seems to signal a rethink on e-tail as one way to point out the little differences and keep the US consumer loyal to the brand. Fine jewelry brands have been some of the staunchest holdouts when it comes to e-commerce and online promotion, echoing early sentiments of luxury fashion brands that people won’t buy high value items without an in store experience.

Original design sketches of De Beers jewelry, personal stories and expert opinion are all at your fingertips on the new website, so it will be interesting to see if fine jewelry will follow in the steps of high fashion in dispelling the myth that a luxury shopping experience can’t take place in front of a computer screen. While the most expensive pieces and engagement rings are still behind a “request viewing” barrier, part of the collection is available for purchase if a particular piece of jewelry catches your eye (and you have a spare $5000 or so). Hopefully, as more shoppers turn to De Beers as a destination, even those barriers will come down.

Old money is giving way to young luxury. Images from Burberry's Art of the Trench

A study by American Express Business Insights found a few interesting patterns emerging from data on Amex cardholder spending.

• Pre-recession, the wealthiest 10% of luxury consumers accounted for 68% of luxury spending
• Post recession, they accounted for just 38%
• Aspirational shoppers (those who aren’t considered wealthy, but trade up for luxury goods) represented 70% of pre-recession luxury consumers and accounted for 12% of luxury spending
• Post recession, they accounted for 13%
• A new group called “Newcomers” falls into the bottom 90% of spenders, but are an increasing portion of the consumers who are spending on luxury items
• Most Newcomers are women, and while a third are part of the older Baby Boom generation, a third fall into the Generation X category and 10% are in the Generation Y category

In other words, the very wealthy aren’t the ones leading the rebound in luxury spending. The question then turns to why? After all, unemployment is still stubbornly high, particularly for younger and middle class Americans.

It’s important to keep in mind that when things got bad for luxury retailers they got really bad. Bad enough that even luxury merchandise was being marked down by as much as 70%. While luxury spending is rebounding, it’s coming off of some pretty deep lows.

As far as total dollars spent, the current luxury category is likely still smaller than it was pre-recession. Just to attach a random number, if consumers spent $10 billion on luxury items in 2007, $4 billion in 2008, $4.5 billion in 2009 and $5 billion in 2010, spending is up but still has a way to go before wiping out recession period losses. Which means that even if the percentage of younger, less affluent luxury shoppers is increasing, the total dollar amount they’re spending is probably still lower than what the very wealthy were contributing. Since so much of the pre-recessionary spending was based on bubbles and debt, that may not be a bad thing.

During that period websites like Gilt, who offered discounts on luxury items, saw massive growth selling luxury items at 50, 60 or even 70% off. E-commerce and online spending weren’t hit as deeply as brick and mortar stores during the recession and both have had pretty amazing growth over the past holiday season – up to $1 billion per day during certain pre-Christmas shopping days.

It’s not impossible that these sites are introducing new customers to luxury brands at a more affordable price point, and some of those customers continue to buy from the brands after the initial discount. Or, that they’re learning to wait for the next sale and do their luxury shopping at a discount.

Finally, continuing in the online vein there’s the rise of social media. A significant number of fashion and luxury brands finally stopped ignoring the internet in 2010. Not just that, but a few actually moved past tolerance to full fledged involvement. It wasn’t universal, but a number of brands were interacting with fans on Twitter and Facebook, creating their own networks and content, engaging bloggers and communities.

Who are the people spending the most time and money online? We’d bet they have a profile very similar to the luxury Newcomers. They may not have the dollar for dollar spending power of the wealthiest 10%, but at a time when shopper for shopper the rich prefer Macy’s to Neiman Marcus, Newcomers are likely to remain luxury’s best hope for growth.

The error page displayed when typing in robertocavalli.com from Google Chrome. That is not gifted.

L2, a luxury think tank focusing on digital innovation, recently published their second annual Digital IQ index, a ranking of luxury brands’ online initiatives. It’s a balanced report that takes into account things like the brand website, online marketing, social media presence and influence, and mobile offerings.

So it’s no surprise to see brands like Burberry, who took hits from critics for their strong internet engagement, labeled as digital “geniuses.”  Ralph Lauren, one of the first fashion labels with a dedicated mobile shop, and Coach, who’ve been aggressively pursuing blogger and social media engagement, also understandably fall into the genius category. Louis Vuitton’s site isn’t the best for search, but there’s a real commitment to online content via Nowness and Gucci’s relaunched digital flagship takes advantage of HTML5 to mostly replace an overdependence on Flash that still hobbles many fashion brand websites.

While the exact order of the top 10 or so sites could be up for discussion, they seem to be fairly accurately positioned. Past the top 10, however, things get strange and seem to prop up some of fashion’s idiot savants. Brands who offer beautiful products that generate buzz and desire, but fail at the basics: an attractive website that’s accessible to users across various devices.

Imran Amed, editor of the Business of Fashion, points out that Chanel – ranked number 11 and classified as “gifted,” has extremely limited e-commerce (fragrance and beauty products in the US only). Perhaps 10 years ago, e-commerce would be an innovative “extra,” but in 2010 we’re well past maturity for online shopping. Overlooking that does seem a bit odd.  Christian Louboutin, whose slow, Flash-heavy site (not viewable on the iPad, iPhone and many mobile devices) drags on a high-speed internet connection with not one, but two kitschy intros, recently launched e-commerce. Unfortunately, it’s difficult to find from the homepage (if you’re patient enough to give it the 2 minutes or so it takes to load), not to mention the fact that counterfeiters are still doing e-commerce and social media better than the brand itself. The online store doesn’t appear in a search for “Christian Louboutin” on Google or Bing in either the paid or unpaid sections, and YouTube videos haven’t changed that. That they’re classified in the same category as Calvin Klein, who along with QR-code billboards that bridge mobile and offline marketing, has livestreamed shows and made obvious integrated efforts with Facebook and social media is frankly a disservice to both brands.

Roberto Cavalli, who can’t figure out how to do a simple redirect (type in robertocavalli.com without the www. and you end up with a 404 page not found message), is the lowest “gifted” brand, but really? This is what we’re letting pass as gifted?

Social media, and thousands or even millions of followers can’t excuse or make up for a dated website lacking basic functionality. The Digital IQ index is needed, and a good step towards getting brands to put some effort into their online efforts. Rewarding the companies who are failing at the basics with extra credit for playing well with others (via social media) won’t help change the fact that they’re failing at the online basics though.

The Chanel 2.55, now .2x more expensive?

Hermès posted second quarter sales results that were up 20% (must be the magic number), noting increased demand in Asia and the US, where a weaker Euro may have worked in the company’s favor. Groupe Laurent Perrier, a champagne maker, had a sales increase of 17% compared to the previous year, and Swiss watchmakers outpaced both for a 35% increase in exports compared to the previous year. {WSJ} Chanel recently opened a Korean store that set a one-day sales record of nearly $375,000. {JoongAng Daily}

Still, is now the best time to hike prices – particularly at a double digit rate? We’ll have to wait a few more weeks to see if the Chanel rumors pan out, but a recent report from MasterCard Advisors’ SpendingPulse showed a 3.9% decrease in spending compared to last June. With a few notable exceptions, even the good news isn’t entirely good. While sales are up, for many retailers this is an increase over sharp declines last year, so it’s not straight line growth.

What’s more, consumers with household incomes over $150,000 per year – the approximate entry level to be included among the top 20% of US households, account for almost 40% of spending. Luxury sales, which likely rely on $150k+ shoppers for a more significant portion of sales tend to fluctuate with the stock market. {Google News} Lately, the Dow Jones hasn’t been doing so well and may be an early sign of wealthy spenders becoming more conservative with their purchases in coming months.

The good news? Well, for the luxury retailers finally coming around to e-commerce, it may be better late than never. Online sales were up 9.7% overall. Apparel was the best performing category with growth of 18.6%, marking the seventh month of double digit gains. {Internet Retailer}

We know that Chanel has plans to finally offer a wider range of products to online shoppers – expanding on their existing beauty e-commerce area, and giving real competition to web savvy counterfeiters for the first time. Yet somehow we’re not sure if that will be enough if luxury shoppers start questioning why the same bag that was 20% less 2 weeks ago is suddenly more expensive. The Euro hit significant lows against the dollar this year, after laying off hundreds of workers at the height of the crisis we know they’re operating with a leaner workforce, and many brands cut production to respond to lowered demand. While Chanel is certainly one of the brands that can rely on its heritage to lend its products “investment” status, we’ll have to see if shoppers accept a price hike tied more to image than actual costs – or if they decide to invest elsewhere.

the Forzieri China website

While this might be bad news for Alipay, the ever-intensifying fight for market share is great news for Chinese consumers, who now have an increasing number of options for online shopping. As a Peopleâ€s Daily article this week points out, as online payment companies continue to duke it out and offer more incentives, Chinese shoppers can now avoid dealing with currency exchange and do more direct online shopping from individual global luxury brands or shopping portals.

From the article (translation by Jing Daily team):

Nowadays, consumers can skip the complex process of currency exchange, and purchase luxury goods from Gucci, Prada, Armani and other international brands directly through their websites.

Recently, after the Italian luxury brand Forzieri announced its cooperation with Paypal and launched a direct payment feature, the well-known fashion retail site Raffaello Network decided to test the waters of the Chinese online shopping market. As the No. 1 Italian fashion e-commerce website, Raffaelo Network sells Gucci, Prada, Fendi, Armani, Versace, Todâ€s and many other international brands. Consumers can not only choose from among 40 designers and 15,000 items according to their taste, but also enjoy an average 40% discount below retail prices.

It has been reported that during the transaction process, Paypalâ€s “overseas purchase” service helps domestic [Chinese] consumers exchange yuan into foreign currencies immediately, which is then paid to the seller for overseas shopping, which increases the convenience of direct transactions. At present, the “overseas purchase” feature supports currencies like the British pound, U.S. dollar, Swiss franc, euro etc. — 12 foreign currencies in all.

In response, industry insiders have claimed that the convenience of overseas payment has greatly stimulated the desire of Chinese consumers to shop online, which could lead to more overseas online shopping sites entering the Chinese market.

Global Luxury Brands “Testing The Waters” In Chinaâ€s E-Commerce Market originally appeared on Jing Daily, and is republished on Signature9 with permission.

Want to know where the wealthy shop online in the UK? Visit Signature9 UK for a look at the UK shopping sites popular with high earners.

It’s impossible to break out apparel shoppers for department store sites (many of which also sell home and garden items), so it should be noted than not every visitor browsing macys.com is there for clothing, beauty or jewelry items. But even if half of the visitors are there for dresses instead of dishes, Macy’s is attracting one of the largest (and richest) online shopping audiences.

Our data is from Google’s Ad Planner, which only offers visitor and demographic information going back one year. We can’t say if the economy has played a role in shifting online shopping preferences, but presently, wealthy online shoppers aren’t visiting luxury destinations in the same volume as they visit e-commerce sites with mid-level pricing. A possible silver lining for sites specializing in luxury sales: while they may not get the same volume of traffic, it’s quite possible that high end e-commerce sites earn more per sale and visitor.

Of the top 20 apparel e-commerce sites attracting the largest number of wealthy online shoppers, 6 (30%) are sites specializing in discount sales. Gilt and Rue La La are neck and neck for the title of the invitation sale site with the wealthiest visitors. Allowing for a small sampling error, the two sites could even reach the same number of wealthy visitors. The advantage, however, goes to Gilt Groupe, who attracts a combined 1.2 million visitors across the main Gilt site, and recently launched sister (and brother) sites Gilt Fuse and Gilt Man. Combined, Gilt Groupe attracts more visitors earning $100,000 or more than any other online only e-commerce apparel site besides Zappos. Pretty impressive for a company that’s not even 3 years old.

When it comes to visitors earning $100k or more per year, invitation sale sites may not have as many visitors as department stores, but as a percentage of visitors, a sizable portion are in this desirable online shopper demographic.

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With widespread talk of H&M launching online shopping for the US and confirmed digital expansion into the UK, we’re excited to see La Perla joining the list of offline retailers embracing online. While there’s still something to be said for touching a fabric in person and knowing exactly how something fits before you buy, online shopping has its own benefits. No harsh lighting, no hovering salespeople, and the benefit of being able to try clothes on with your existing wardrobe. Sometimes the in store experience isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

Particularly for shoppers not near a major city who still want to be fashionable, we’re always glad to be spoilt for choice.

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