Ultra-Wealthy Shoppers Flock to Nordstrom but Barneys, Bergdorf and Neiman Cultivate Relationship Business

NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwired - Jun 20, 2013) -  The Luxury Institute surveyed consumers with minimum net worth of $5 million about top luxury retailers they purchase from, and the relationships they maintain with luxury sales professionals. 

Nordstrom boasts the largest share of pentamillionaire purchasers, with a majority of ultra-wealthy consumers buying something from the Seattle-based luxury retailer in the last year. Rounding out the top three in terms of popularity are Bloomingdale's and Neiman Marcus.

Marquee names selling higher-ticket luxury items make up for a lack of widespread appeal with deeper customer relationships. Sales professionals at both Barneys New York and Neiman Marcus rise above the competition in building relationships with pentamillionaire clients. Similarly, Bergdorf Goodman's market share among ultra-wealthy shoppers is just one-fourth the size of Nordstrom's, but the prevalence of customer-salesperson relationships at Bergdorf is triple the rate at Nordstrom.

Sales professionals at more mainstream retailers like Nordstrom and Bloomingdale's are far less likely to have cultivated exclusive relationships. Relationships are more prevalent among women than men, and those under the age of 65 compared to those who are older.

"Technology may make it easier for sales professionals to maintain relationships," says Luxury Institute CEO Milton Pedraza. "But simple and personalized approaches like follow-up phone calls or handwritten thank you notes still prove tremendously effective."

Respondents also ranked the comparative importance of the qualities they seek in sales professionals from luxury retailers, such as recognizing them when they visit the store, receiving calls and emails with special product offers, and making them feel comfortable.

About Luxury Institute (www.LuxuryInstitute.com)
The Luxury Institute is the objective and independent global voice of the high net-worth consumer. The Institute conducts extensive and actionable research with wealthy consumers about their behaviors and attitudes on customer experience best practices. In addition, we work closely with top-tier luxury brands to successfully transform their organizational cultures into more profitable customer-centric enterprises. Our Luxury CRM Culture consulting process leverages our fact-based research and enables luxury brands to dramatically Outbehave as well as Outperform their competition. The Luxury Institute also operates LuxuryBoard.com, a membership-based online research portal, and the Luxury CRM Association, a membership organization dedicated to building customer-centric luxury enterprises.