HOT TOPIC A new look at old problems

Defining Luxury

This once unstoppable market is facing a challenging new world and is defining itself to ensure future success

By Amy Spiezio

When asked how to be a true luxury purveyor, eyewear designer and owner of boutiques Robert Marc answered: "Know what it is!"

What would seem like a fairly simple category to define is actually quite complicated; and, as the highest tiers of the optical industry gear up to weather what promises to be a challenging year, many of those who inhabit this lofty level are looking hard and thinking twice when it comes to what makes them shine and how they can stay at the top.

DEFINITIONS AT THE TOP

Luxury optical retail doesn't have a cookie-cutter plan for reaching out to the top spenders in the marketplace. Just as in value- and mass-focused practices, there are decidedly different ways to approach the well-to-do demographic. One of the largest chasms in this portion of the market is pinpointing exactly what is luxury. While some optical leaders embrace the luxury name, others label themselves high-end and eschew the luxe moniker, and others don't use either. Another issue at hand is that of disagreement within the ranks of what constitutes luxury and high-end and just who has the right to wear the mantle of luxury.

Luxury expert and founder/CEO of Optical Shop of Aspen, Larry Sands goes right to the source when it comes to deciding what's really luxury. "We have to have something to define, we have to go by the dictionary definition. The definition is the definition."

From a strictly word-focused point of view, luxury is an old concept, with its first sighting popping up in the 14th century. Although back then the word implied lechery and lust, the term has tapered and softened to become synonymous with a treat, something extra with all of the bells, whistles, and trimmings.

High-end, on the other hand, has its first recorded mention in 20th century, 1977 to be specific. This young phrase retains its original intent, depicting something of the very best quality.

In 600 years, high-end may evolve into something rather different; but for now, those who opt for the high-end are seeking a well-crafted, finely honed product.

WHO'S WHO?

So luxury and its relative, high-end, are defined and we can all go on from there. Easy, right? Not so fast. These definitions help the top-tier retailers define their businesses, but thanks to personal interpretation, day-to-day applications, and even the version of dictionary in use, not everyone's quite on the same page.

It's so hard to talk about luxury, the definition has gone beyond price point. It's something that you can have that no one else can because you can afford it. Otherwise, all of the other definitions have been blown wide open," says Brent Zerger director of communications and retail operations for Los Angeles-based l.a. Eyeworks.

Galina Rabkin, owner of Vizio Optic in Boston, notes that the dictionary has put her firmly in the high-end business camp. "There is a big difference between high-end and luxury. Did you know that one of the definitions of the word luxury is ‘foolish or worthless form of self-indulgence?’ That's why I never use this word. To me, high-end means both high-end product and high-end experience."

On the other hand, Robert Marc interprets the luxury vs. high-end question in other terms, focusing on the exclusivity of luxury products for differentiation.

"The term high-end describes products that target high-income consumers in their pricing, distribution, and marketing strategies. Luxury, on the other hand, describes products that are rare, special, and exclusive," he says.

"Luxury items are superior in design, material, and presentation and are exclusively distributed through select dealers to the most privileged customers," Marc adds. "Therefore, one can say that all luxury items are high-end, but not all high-end items are luxury. In other words, high-end is to luxury as cost is to value."

Essentially, within each group, there are variations and similarities that create different communities within optical's highest strata.

BEYOND NECESSITY: LUXURY

Optical's luxury crowd is a rarified group that blends a number of factors to create the ultimate optical experience.

Larry Sands points to an example in other retail environments to help define luxury. "You can get a diamond at Zales, but the shopping experience is not luxury," Sands notes, adding, "If I'm leaning on a laminate showcase looking at a diamond ring, it's not luxury. But it's high-end because it's a diamond."

For those who embrace the name luxury, there are certain common traits including exclusivity, price point, and quality.

"It's divided in the experience, the location, the product, sometimes the price, the exclusivity, and the customer service, and they can't be separated. It takes a combination of things for it to be called luxury. It isn't one thing," says Miami-based optician, retailer, and designer Ed Beiner.

Without each part of the luxury equation in place, the result falls short. "Luxury isn't about making it expensive," Sands says. "Carrying expensive goods doesn't matter if the surroundings aren't luxurious. People think they're going to spend $100,000 dollars buying furnishings at IKEA and then put in Cartier and Chrome Hearts. That doesn't work because they put the product in there, but then they didn't back it up."

HIGH-END DISTINCTION

Those who ascribe to the high-end slice of the top-level pie are committed to the concept that they are focused on the craft.

According to Sophie Raubiet, New York-based vice president of retail for Alain Mikli, "There is a huge difference between high-end and luxury. Luxury has a superficial connotation, like something we buy for fashion but we don't need, something we'll get tired of and might not use for long, but we want it because everybody has it. High-end, on the contrary, has a real value, like something we need and we're planning to put the quality into, to have last longer."

The consumer who typically visits a high-end shop tends to be optical-savvy and informed about the product he or she is buying. As a result, the staff has to be not only welcoming, but extremely knowledgeable on technical details.

"The approach is very professionally based," Raubiet adds.

"High-end customers are usually elitists, and always in search of something new, well made, and unknown from the average people," says Valerie Vittu, founder of Margot & Camille Optique in Philadelphia. "The high-end customers buy for the quality of the product, not for its media."

SIMPLY THE BEST

Then there are the retailers who focus on being the best and offering the best without putting a label on their work

"Both high-end and luxury are words that have lost their meaning to consumers due to overuse," notes David Schulte, CEO of Oliver Peoples. "We really don't use either term and instead look at our brand/business as ‘experience driven.’ We want our customers to enter the world of Oliver Peoples and experience the ultimate service, product, image, etc. We try to think about this in everything we do."

Creativity is the driving force with these term-shunning top-tier eyecare professionals. "The words high-end and luxury we rarely discuss. People consider it to be about creativity, originality. Something that's perfectly tuned to you rather than something you saw in a book," Zerger says. "For our customers luxury is having a truly unique piece."

ACROSS THE BOARD

Despite the particular labels and specific philosophies that segregate this elite portion of the optical world, each of these experts believes in creating a full package for the ultimate patient fulfillment.

"It's that overall experience that you can describe as a "package wrapped up in shiny paper with a beautiful ribbon on top. You can't have high-end product without that experience," says Rabkin.

And how is that achieved? Through constant effort to determine what makes customers happy and what exceeds their expectations.

"I strive to offer that high-end experience with truly great service which stems from the mind-set, from my desire, from within to help my customers, and from training employees," Rabkin adds.

Creating an experience is key. "We offer signature and exclusive customer service—guided boutique tours, individual fittings, handwritten thank-you notes, chocolates to celebrate purchases, and concierge services contribute to a memorable experience," says Michael Hansen, vice president and general manager of Ilori.

Creating a true top-tier experience involves pleasing the hardest-to-please patients, those who have become accustomed to the best and won't settle for anything less.

"We're not luxurious in that we swathe everything with velvet. We live in a city with Rodeo Drive. If people want that kind of luxury, they can have it. But we would rival them in terms of service and quality. From the moment that patients walk in the door until when they walk out with their new frames and lenses, their experience is perfect," Zerger says.

"More than ever, the brands and businesses pushing the envelope and doing that ‘extra’ little thing," says Schulte, "whether it be a thank-you note, a killer ad campaign, special material in the product that is over-the-top, etc., will be the ones that not only survive but thrive." EB