Luxury Retail Summit: Holiday Focus 2015 (September 16, 2015, NYC)

Luxury Retail Summit:  Holiday Focus 2015pam danziger at podium

September 16 in NYC

Join me September 16 at  Luxury Daily’s Luxury Retail Summit:  Holiday Focus to learn how to make the mass-affluent HENRYs — high-earner-not-rich-yet demographic — your secret weapon for holiday retail success this year.

Holiday 2015 will be especially tough

By now you’ve heard that the National Retail Federation (NRF) backpeddled on their retail sales forecast for 2015, pulling back from their earlier forecast of 4.1% increase to only 3.5% over 2014.  As a trade association for the retail industry, I don’t put too much stock into what they say, knowing that they want to put a positive spin on whatever they report, as Mark Twain said, “There are lies, damn lies and statistics.”

So the news of a downward adjustment of a forecast from the NRF is particularly notable, since the reality is probably much worse that they are likely to report.

The data point I look to as a bellwether for retail prospects is GAFO sales.  GAFO stands for General Merchandise, Apparel, Home Furnishings and Other types of stores, the type of stores that fill the nation’s malls, shopping centers and main streets.  Through May, GAFO stores posted an anemic 1.3% uptick over 2014, well below the NRF’s 3.5% forecast.

If the rest of the year continues at its current pace, we’ll see only a 1.3% uptick in retail sales over 2014.

GAFO Sales 2007-May 2015
To generate some excitement this year and get more people shopping, retailers need new strategies, more than another sale or deep-discounted promotion.  These only invite the wrong type of shoppers to the store, the penny-pinchers looking to save a buck.

Rather retailers need to entice the right kind of shoppers, the ones with greater shopping needs and deeper pockets with which to indulge themselves when they shop.  That is the HENRY shopper!

HENRYs are doing better than nearly 80% of U.S. households, so they have discretion to spend.  But they view themselves as middle-class, hardly luxury-class, and actively shop day-in, day-out in all kinds of stores, high-end, low-end and in the middle.

The mass-affluent HENRYs are the ideal target for mass-market brands, as well as the gatekeepers for the new luxury market.  By understanding the mindset of the HENRYs, you can make the HENRYs your secret weapon to grow retail sales in this coming holiday season.

Unlock Your Secret Weapon to Retail Success by Understanding the HENRY Affluent Shopper

To prosper this holiday season and the next, retailers need to identify consumer segments that offer the most promise and draw them to their shopping experience. For holiday 2015, and for the next 10 years thereafter, that most promising segment is HENRYs, especially those under 45 years with incomes $100,000 to $249,900.

Join me September 16 at the Luxury Retail Summit to learn how to unlock the HENRY demographic as your secret weapon to growth this holiday season.

Here is a link to register for this event:

https://www.luxurydaily.com/conference-page/

I look forward to seeing you there.  And if you can’t make it, we have report that will give you the latest research-based insights on HENRYs.  Click here to learn more.  

 

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