E-commerce sales and luxury sales are both experiencing strong year over year growth

MasterCard released their SpendingPulse macroeconomic report for July 2011, and the findings are a mixed bag for retailers. Luxury good sales are up 11.6% year over year, and e-commerce sales grew for the 24th straight month in every category except electronics. Combine that with the fact that many luxury brands have finally stopped fearing e-commerce, and it’s blue skies and sunshine for luxury good makers. Saks, who had to shutter some stores not so long ago, reports that same-store (stores open at least one year) revenue is up 15.6%, handily beating estimates of an 8.5% increase.

Then there’s Wal-Mart, whose same store traffic is down 2.6% year over year. Though they’ve attempted to up their style credibility, shoppers aren’t buying it and competitors like Target and traditional supermarkets are seeing foot traffic increase.

So what gives? Is the economy that far back on track that everyone’s trading up? Not exactly.

Surveys from Morgan Stanley and WSL Strategic retail found that shoppers actually don’t think Wal-Mart has the lowest prices anymore. Add to that, many are shopping less because they have less money to spend in the first place. {Bloomberg}

On the other side of the spending coin, luxury brands have been bumping up their prices on everything from 4-figure face creams to designer shoes and consumers are opening their wallets. Not at pre-recession levels, mind you, but enough to push sales up significantly for everyone from BMW and Mercedes Benz to Tiffany’s, LVMH and PPR (owner of Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent, whose luxury division recorded 23% sales growth). {NY Times}

Which makes it seem like the US retail sector is becoming a tale of two shoppers. In some ways, we hope that is the case, but aren’t sure that it is.

The recession happened for many reasons, but a significant one was consumers living beyond their means, spending money that they didn’t really have.  While we’d like to believe that all of the luxury sales are dormant affluent consumers reawakening their credit cards after gaining from the overall gains the stock market has made since it hit is recent lows, the reality is that “aspirational shoppers” have long sustained the mass luxury industry.

If those shoppers have been saving and are financially stable, we don’t see a problem with spending $1000 on one item rather than 10 or 20 less expensive items.

While there may be some careful saving and selection behind the jump in luxury sales though, another percentage stood out to us: 33. That’s how much MasterCard’s profit rose year over year. There are undoubtedly some affluent individuals driving the $608 billion in MasterCard/MaestroCard spending, but we’d be remiss to overlook the fact that we’re still largely talking about the spending of borrowed money.

We’re glad to see sales in any industry bounce back, but we’ll wait for more information on who’s leading the shopping recovery before getting too hopeful that it’s truly a sign of the economy getting back on the ball.

The Council of Fashion Designers of America/CFDA Foundation, Inc. promotes and supports the cause and others in the industry have partnered with the FTBC initiative like Net-A-Porter, Calvin Klein, Saks, QVC, Elson & Company and the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation.

When we learned about this year’s plans we thought it was an innovative and unique idea for this very significant cause. Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Spring 2011, September 9-16, 2010 in New York City will kick off and Nine West has joined the relief effort, partnering with Omron, the CFDA, Sony, Marilyn, IMG Models and Elite Model Management in raising funds this year. The interesting part though is not just the awesome Nine West runway show, but  the entire week’s worth of festivities during Fashion Week that the models experience.

“The models will don a limited-edition pair of Runway Relief boots, equipped with an Omron GOSmart Pocket Pedometer, to track each modelâ€s steps as she runs between castings, fittings and fabulous parties throughout the week. For every step she takes, a donation will be made to Fashion Targets Breast Cancer. Nigel Barker will host the program on August 31st with a photo shoot of the participating models in an iconic New York location, and you can catch the live stream on Nine Westâ€s Facebook page or on www.modelinia.com.” {Fashion Pulse Daily}

If you love the boots they will be available to the public on August 31st for $199. Nothing beats great fashion and helping a worthy cause.

The rollout is considered a test case, and if successful, could mean a wider range of sizes in other Saks locations around the country.

The clothes won’t be in a special section, they’ll be included on the same racks as the 0-12 sizes that most items already come in. With any hope, this could be a step towards blurring the line between straight sized and plus sized fashion.

Saks and the labels haven’t rushed to comment, which may be a sign that the labels are still grappling with how to promote the expanded size options to a group of customers who’ve long been ignored. {Jezebel} But a baby step is still a step in the right direction.

Spring/Summer 2010 Jewelry from Lanvin (L), Vera Wang (Center) and Dolce & Gabbana (R)

Whether you fancy long, bold necklaces or eye-catching rings, there is a statement piece with your name on it. Designers like Vera Wang, Lanvin and Dolce & Gabbana all sent their models down the catwalk with bold, yet beautiful and intricate, accessories for spring and the trend will continue for a few months. The clothes of FW2010 may have lost their rock chic edge in favor of minimalist silhouettes, but that can  offer the perfect backdrop to strong jewelry choices.

Fall/Winter 2010 statement jewelry from Vera Wang (L), Lanvin (Center) and Dolce & Gabbana (R)

The beauty of costume jewelry is that it’s an easy way to flaunt your fashion interests when you can’t do so with your clothes (hello, corporate uniform), or help transition an outfit from day to night. Here are 9 statement pieces that let your jewelry do the talking without leaving your wallet screaming.

1. Check Embossed Degrade Bangle {Burberry}
Burberry Prorsum
$195

2. Gold Armour Knuckle Ring {My Wardrobe}
Low Luv by Erin Wasson
$113.85

3. Multi Chain and Bead Necklace {Saks Fifth Avenue}
Kenneth Jay Lane
$175

4. Multi Chunky Crystal Necklace {Bloomingdale’s}
Aqua
$60

5. Blue Glass Ring {Max & Chloe}
Noir
$62

6. Mixed Chain and Pearl Bracelet {Arden B}
$19

7. Amethyst Cocktail Ring {My Wardrobe}
Kenneth Jay Lane
$123.75

8. Golden Shadow Swarovski Vitale Bracelet {Max & Chloe}
Janna Conner
$163

9. Ruby Dream Cocktail Ring {Max & Chloe}
Kenneth Jay Lane
$165

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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