Luxury retail gains in online average order value

Pricing power and higher-spending consumers boost top-line growth

Article by Insider Intelligence Editors  | Sep 28, 2022
Share
Topics
Retail Performance Metrics
United States

Indexed average order value (AOV) for luxury goods, jewelry, and accessories increased by 26 points between April 2019 and April 2022. The biggest spike in growth occurred over the last year, when luxury AOV increased by 21%, according to data from marketing technology company Criteo, which is included in Insider Intelligence’s Industry KPIs database.

Industry KPIs subscribers have access to the following ecommerce performance metrics:

Subscribers can also access a variety of retail and ecommerce metrics, including new and returning customers, average spend per visit, and cart abandonment rate.

Luxury was one of the top-performing categories in terms of indexed AOV growth. Among the six industries tracked by Criteo, it was second only to home goods. Consumer packaged goods (CPG) and consumer electronics saw the smallest increases during the three-year period.

US Online Indexed Average Order Value, by Industry, April 2019-April 2022 (index*)
E-Mail ChartDownload

Here are three reasons why luxury may be outperforming other industries when it comes to growth in ecommerce AOV:

  1. Luxury brands exercise their pricing power: Even before inflation began to make an impact across the consumer economy, increased demand for luxury goods enabled price hikes.
  2. Wealthier consumers are still willing to spend: Lower-income luxury buyers boosted the sector earlier in the pandemic, but now the higher-income brackets are driving sales.
  3. Luxury buyers are spending more per transaction: Indexed conversion rates declined from 100 in 2019 to 86 in 2022, per Criteo, indicating that basket sizes are increasing as shoppers add more items or costlier units.

Luxury brands and retailers should prioritize their upper-tier products. To maintain their status and boost margins, brands need to emphasize the superior quality of their goods and reduce discounting. Higher price points will support AOV growth and the perception of value among core luxury consumers.