Luxury goods take a hit as consumer sentiment changes

Firstly, I hope everyone had a safe and relaxing holiday over this festive season and ready for the New Year that is now upon us. Now we are into the first work day of the year and only a few days left till we get the second part of our launch out, we have our work cut out for us. Covering this launch we have four principle entities involved, along with several vendors, so pulling things together is taking a bit longer than I had initially planned as a stand alone company. How it looks right now, I think we will be delayed a little to get the second stage of the launch out, either way we will let you know.

As most of you will now know, this new collection we are offering is called the Mendis Luma Collection, though you will have to wait till we launch the second stage as to why it is called such. The second stage of the launch will reveal the Mendis Luma Collection emblem along with a much clearer picture of what the Mendis Luma Collection is all about. This collection is much more than just another bottle of Mendis Coconut Brandy or something special done to the bottle itself.
The market for luxury goods has recently been experiencing a softening due to consumer spending in this market segment declining over the past two quarters, subsequently, with this has come a shift in consumer sentiment.

The luxury consumer market over the past few years experienced strong grow, with this came numerous new product lines trying to cater to this market segment to capture some market share. As such, the market was barraged with an array of new (and old) product offerings touting themselves as luxury, so much so, that they lost sight of offering true value to the consumer for the sake of obtaining quick market share. Consumers, in general, offered little thought to the true value of a luxury good, buying it based off the face value of the brand name or fancy packaging, with little analysis given to the long term value of their purchase.

What we are seeing now with consumers in the high-end luxury market segment is a more educated purchasing decision making process; purchasers are looking for long term value in the brand/product they are purchasing. In assessing their purchase, buyers want to see real value in the product and aligning themselves with what they perceive as the most exclusive luxury brand names that offer true intrinsic value.

This means luxury product offerings must price their goods realistically to the true value of the craftsmanship of the piece they are offering, plus the perceived value the brand holds in the consumers eyes. Over priced goods will be perceived as excessive, cheap brands that entered the luxury market will realign to their old core product offerings and established luxury good brands will reduce their prices to clear product in an over saturated market.

The key to succeeding in the luxury goods market is in offering something unique and priced at fair value, of which Mendis new collection is precisely such. Mendis Luma Collection is about offering true long term value through the alignment of the Mendis brand with other luxury brands to bring about a one-of-a-kind consumer good that can not be acquired anywhere else or with any other brand and offers the consumer true collectible appreciable value. Exactly just how much value, you will have to wait and see.


Chris S. Richardson
President