Market Insights from the Luxury Consumer with Emily Essner

Consumer spending is the heart of the US economy—more specifically, spending by high-income, or luxury, consumers. These luxury consumers are optimistic about the economic landscape, and how and what they spend their money on reflects this attitude. But while not everyone can spend like a luxury consumer, can their attitudes provide economic insight for the rest of us? Just in time for the holiday shopping season, this episode we talk with Emily Essner, the Chief Marketing Officer for Saks Fifth Avenue. Saks is a well-established luxury department store chain, operating its brick-and-mortar stores and e-commerce platform as separate entities. Emily started at Saks Fifth Avenue in 2011, holding multiple roles before ultimately becoming the CMO for Saks, the standalone e-commerce platform of the brand. Prior to Saks, Emily was an investment banking analyst at Morgan Stanley, as well as a senior associate at McKinsey & Company. She holds an MBA from Columbia Business School, as well as a Bachelor’s Degree from Mount Holyoke College. For more, read Liz’s column every Thursday at On The Money by SoFi, sign up for the SoFi Daily Newsletter, and follow Liz on Twitter @LizThomasStrat. Notable mentions in the episode: 00:00 Introduction 01:55 Luxury Consumer Insights 06:10 Durability of Luxury Industry and Trends 09:56 The Entry Point for Luxury Goods 12:08 The Emerging Luxury Consumer 19:31 Using Personalization in Marketing Strategies 21:39 The Role of Brand Loyalty 26:18 Sak’s Philosophy of Resource Allocation 29:13 Promotions During the Holiday Season 33:43 Closing Thoughts Additional resources: SoFi Daily Podcast: 5-minute daily episodes covering the latest business, economic, and stock market news you need to start your day. The SoFi Daily Pod is available on Apple and Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. SoFi Daily Newsletter: Sign up for the SoFi Daily to receive the latest financial news in your inbox every day.  Investing 101 Center: At SoFi, we believe investing is for everyone — which is why we’ve created a hub with info for beginners and experts alike. Start exploring to get investment education, advice, resources, and more. Wealth Investing Guide: Information you need to know to make your money work harder for you. This podcast should be used for informational purposes only and not deemed as a recommendation. Our Automated investing is via SoFi Wealth LLC, and is a registered investment advisor. Our Active investing is via SoFi securities LLC, member FINRA/SIPC. For additional disclosures related to the SoFi Invest® platforms, please visit www. SoFi.com/Legal. ©2024 Social Finance, Inc. All Rights Reserved.