Saks Global Report: Intent to Spend on Luxury Softens
On Tuesday, the retailer detailed the results of the latest Saks Global Luxury Pulse survey to WWD, getting into the heads of luxury consumers. The survey found that optimism about the economy continues to decline, driven by economic uncertainty and market volatility.
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Fielded from April 24 to April 28, the Luxury Pulse indicated that America's affluent have been affected by market volatility and flip-flopping tariffs, are worried about a possible recession and are increasingly discerning when spending on luxury. The quarterly survey gathered responses online from 1,248 U.S.-based luxury consumers over age 18 during a time when many of the tariffs in U.S. President Donald Trump's trade war had been paused, starting a 90-day period of negotiation.
Among luxury consumers, the top five concerns are the general social and political climate, a potential recession, personal financial security, stock market volatility and ongoing global conflict.
'We've been doing these surveys for a few years and this is another one of those market declines,' said Emily Essner, president and chief commercial officer of Saks Global. 'This is a meaningful decline.'
But the situation isn't entirely bad. 'While we saw a decline in how consumers felt about the macro environment, we also saw optimism about their personal finances.' The luxury spending is more tied to how consumer feel about the macro environment, rather than their personal finances, she said.
In addition, 'When we think about higher-income spenders, they are last in, first out,' Essner said, meaning, they're the last group to put the reins on spending during challenging economic times, and the first to rev up their spending when the economy rebounds.
'There is still a desire to spend for moments that are special,' Essner said, referring to holidays, birthdays and other special occasions.
While the survey showed economic sentiments declining, Essner did suggest that attitudes could have changed for the better since the survey was taken in April. Saks' next Luxury Pulse, to be taken during the summer, could tell a different story from the latest one.
'The most important thing is to understand where their heads are at,' Essner said. The Luxury Pulse, she said, is an important tool for that, helping Saks executives plan and forecast their business.
Given the shifting attitudes among consumers, Essner said the company has to work harder to convey the value, timeliness and high quality of the fashion products it sells and to emphasize that much of the assortment contains 'investment pieces' meaning they'll last well into the future and are not trendy.
In addition, given the state of mind of the luxury consumer, personalization has become an even more important part of the Saks Global strategy, Essner said. Asked if Saks will be more promotional, Essner replied, 'We wouldn't anticipate significantly changing our approach.'
While acknowledging that consumers do get more motivated to shop during strong promotions, Essner said that, 'In the end, our strategy is to be decreasing promotionality overall,' and to be more 'targeted' with promotions.
Essner also acknowledged that given the dynamic nature of the macro environment and consumer attitudes, planning becomes more challenging. 'It's definitely hard to think six to eight months down the road,' she said.
She also said there were no indicators that luxury consumers were shifting discretionary dollars to areas such as travel and entertainment at the expense of fashion.
Among the key findings from the Luxury Pulse:
The luxury consumer's intent to spend on luxury has softened compared to recent surveys, with 47 percent planning to spend the same or more on luxury in the next three months. This represents the lowest level since tracking by Saks began in April 2023, and a decline of 11 percentage points compared with the prior survey.
Twenty-eight percent of respondents reported feeling optimistic about the economy, which is a decline of 13 percentage points compared with the prior survey fielded in January 2025 and a decline of 17 percentage points compared with the survey fielded in April 2024.
Luxury consumers are feeling significantly less calm about the economy, with 32 percent feeling calm, representing a decline of 13 percentage points compared with the prior survey and down 22 percentage points compared with the same time last year.
Despite a decrease in optimism about the economy, the majority of luxury consumers remain optimistic about their personal finances. Sixty-seven percent of those with an income of $200,000 or more said they feel prepared when it comes to their personal finances.
'As the expert on the luxury consumer, we know that uncertainty in the macro environment impacts their intent to spend on luxury. With that in mind, we believe it's our responsibility as the largest multibrand luxury retailer in the world to adapt to the uncertainty by demonstrating the value of our experience and quality of our luxury assortment,' Essner said in a prepared statement.
Formerly known as the Saks Luxury Pulse, following the completion of Saks Global's acquisition of Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman in December, the survey's scope broadened and it was rebranded as the Saks Global Luxury Pulse. Revenues at the Saks banner fell 20 percent last year, which the company blamed on 'disrupted inventory flow' while Neiman Marcus was down 2 percent. Saks Global also includes the Saks Off 5th offprice business.
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