Business View Magazine | Volume 8, Issue 12

7 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 8, ISSUE 12 O p e n i n g L i n e s EXPERIENTIAL RETAIL STRATEGIES TO BOOST LUXURY THIS CHRISTMAS T his Christmas, in an uncertain retail landscape, luxury brands and stores must differentiate themselves with greater distinction than ever before. Doubts surrounding a return to ‘normality’ - due to a succession of supply chain issues – means forward-thinking marketing strategies must be deployed to win and retain new consumers. Accordingly, brands need to prioritise the experiential argues Robert Lockyer, CEO, and founder of Delta Global, a sustainable packaging solutions provider for luxury brands. I n times of normalcy, it is common to have a Christmas marketing plan finalised and ready for implementation by September. Yet, if we wind back to that time, news feeds talked of fuel crises, scarcity of products, congested supply chains, and heavily delayed deliveries. You would be forgiven if your marketing ambitions and profit forecasts for the Christmas period were somewhat moderated. The more optimistic predictions for 2021 forecast a return to near 2019 levels. But this tends to assume a return to 2019 levels of undisrupted supply chains – something that now seems impossible at the time of writing. The best we can hope for is a return to normalised supply chains, according to Drewry, the maritime research company, is at the end of 2022. This is a particular problem for the luxury sector. A luxury customer does not expect compromise