Luxury clients: who they are and why they buy
Market research says luxury clients are younger, richer, more digital. The data is true, but it doesn't explain why they buy. I spent years looking for the answer at the counter, selling kitchens in New York, Switzerland and Novara, and I put it into a definition. It's mine, and I challenge you to prove it wrong.
- The luxury client buys to position themselves. Their problem is where they stand in society.
- Two problems to solve: positioning yourself in relation to others, and covering an insecurity. I work on the first.
- They choose the brand according to who they are meeting: the Rolex for New York, the Patek for Atlanta.
- You recognise the real client by their budget, and you find it out with the right questions.
- The American client is the best: pays by card, in advance, before seeing the product.
I don't buy a scarf because I'm cold
Procter & Gamble solves practical problems: a child who isn't potty-trained needs nappies, someone with a cough buys Vicks VapoRub. LVMH also solves people's problems, but which ones? I don't buy a Fendi scarf because I'm cold, or a Loro Piana jacket because it's snowing outside.
By my analysis, luxury brands solve two macro-problems in the client's head. The first: they position people in consumer society. We are people who come into contact with other people, clients, suppliers, investors, friends, and we use certain brands to communicate where we stand. The second: they cover an insecurity. People who feel inadequate buy branded goods so that others won't think so. I am interested in the first, because it is the one a brand can use.
Buying a product from a luxury brand is the direct result of the perceived emotional and social status benefits that come from buying and owning that brand's product.
They choose the brand according to who they meet
It would be too easy to put a Casio next to a Rolex. The real game is between luxury brands, and people position themselves according to the clients they are going to visit. If I'm going to New York to see a young, go-getting developer, I wear a certain Rolex. If I'm going to Atlanta, a conservative city, to see a developer who votes Republican, drives a Mercedes S-Class and has a certain kind of furniture in his office, I wear a gold and steel watch from a brand he sees as more prestigious. These are real facts.
It applies to everyone. The office worker who puts her Vuitton bag in the middle of her desk so her colleagues seethe. The polo shirt: Lacoste on Saturday to play it safe, Fred Perry to look cool. The car: the Ferrari for an evening with Italians, the Bentley for drinks in Switzerland. Prove me wrong.
And the one who always buys the top?
People ask me in the classroom: is there a class so rich that it buys the best regardless, with no social proof? Yes, and it is still a positioning game. Bill Gates doesn't have to prove anything with his watch: he takes the private jet to play bridge in Europe in a baseball cap, and the other billionaires envy that he can. The American who books out the most famous restaurant in Rome to dine with two others is looking for number one, because the more of a leader you are, the more sought-after you are. And he is looking for privacy, which is a value like any other: in first class you buy space, because the plane lands at the same time for everyone.
How to recognise the real client
Research says luxury clients are younger than average, that millennials matter more and more, that they read online reviews before buying. It's good to know. But in the showroom you recognise the client by one thing only: the budget. And you find out the budget with the right questions, asked in a tone of innocent curiosity: “What kind of kitchen would you like? In what material? Had you thought of a figure?”
The real client has already made a journey before coming in: they have seen the photos, the videos, the testimonials. They have come up to the second floor and rung the bell. Someone who arrives like that is not just anyone passing by. If they have a budget of €100,000 I design the project on the top collection; if they have €30,000 I offer them the one that's right for them, and I don't let them leave without the order. If they have €10,000 they are not a target client, and I tell them so politely.
The American client
Then there is the client every high-end Italian company should know: the American. He bought a kitchen from us with a $20,000 deposit without ever seeing the product, for delivery six months later. He paid by card, because with the card he is insured and collects American Express points, which he then converts into flights. In our company we say American Express clients are the best clients.
The American client trusts your word, but if there is a problem he wants it solved even if you are in the right. To the New York client whose carrier broke four crates I gave a Gucci foulard and remade the products. My nightmare is a one-star review. The luxury client buys trust, which is built before the sale and defended after it.
From my book Direct from Milano and from my classroom courses. Figures and examples updated to September 2026.
One live webinar a month.
One topic, questions from the business owners who join, answers without sales slides. It's free and in Italian, and it's the simplest way to get to know us.
See the next webinar →