A cup of coffee is quintessential to a long day, especially if the long day consists of arms full of shopping bags. Situated in the heart of luxury shopping malls are cafés where you can get avocado toast with a small side of caviar and a $20 slice of lemon cake.
Fashion houses are opening their own decorative cafés, embellished with the brand’s signature designs worldwide. In London, it’s the Prada Caffè. Next, in Miami, you will find the DIOR Café. Or in New York, have tea at Tiffany’s Blue Box Café. The buzz for these cafes is brimming — a dream collaboration for an influencer and free, authentic marketing for a high-fashion brand.
In 2024, consumers spent $5.927 trillion in retail stores and $1.337 trillion online. While shopping in person is preferred by an American customer, online shopping is increasing at a steady rate. 71% of consumers who prefer shopping online over in-store shopping report doing so for the sake of convenience. For many brands, failing to adapt to this change puts them at risk of losing customers and could lead to their decline, similar to the many fallen brands at the bottom of the stock market.
This presents an even greater challenge when examining the United States. According to the International Monetary Fund, political uncertainty and tariffs have caused the U.S. inflation rate to stay above target. How can brands continue to attract customers into their stores during economic instability?
Brand Outreach
Brands must find ways to attract customers to their stores in a struggling economy, while also maintaining a level of outreach. For luxury fashion houses, this means adding a small café to the interior of their stores.
In today’s age, brand marketing relies on User Generated Content (UGC), as it’s a form of marketing that makes an audience feel like they are part of something. The best way for brands to achieve this is through experiences they host and invite influencers to — a carefully curated list of content creators whose own unique brands align with their own.
Some are doing this through aesthetically pleasing, intimate and dimly lit dinners. Rare Beauty recently hosted a dinner party for invited influencers, with Selena Gomez herself in attendance. All the influencers in attendance posted ‘get-ready-with-me’ videos and vlogs of the night, making the Rare Beauty brand appear authentic and genuine. The high-fashion café experience is essentially a small dinner on a larger scale, giving anybody access to the “experience”.
The Future
The most valuable content comes when influencers post videos and reviews unprompted. With names that already spark global conversation, fashion houses enjoy a domino effect online, where content creators boost their own engagement just by talking about them.
As brands continue to adapt to economic shifts and digital marketing, cafés and curated experiences may prove to be more than just a passing trend. Through opening cafés and restaurants, fashion houses attract customers who might not be able to afford a $3,000 bag but can splurge on a $7 coffee.
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