Sales of luxury personal goods in the US plunged in 2020 as demand for high-end apparel and accessories diminished during the pandemic. An uptick in consumer confidence will help the market recover, and luxury shoppers will reemerge ready to spend, but with new expectations for comfort and sustainability.

• The impact of COVID-19 on the luxury personal goods market.

• Luxury shoppers’ demographic details and preferences.

• Barriers and motivations for buying luxury goods.

• Consumer sentiments around luxury ecommerce.

For the purposes of this Report, Mintel defines luxury shoppers as the 826 respondents aged 18+ who purchased at least one luxury brand item for themselves in the past two years.

The focus of this Report is luxury apparel and accessory brands and consumer sentiment toward the luxury shopping experience.

Additional Mintel Reports address other luxury categories: Luxury Fashion – US, January 2020, Luxury Travel – US, March 2021 and Luxury Vehicles – US, March 2021.

Consumer research for this Report was fielded October 1-12, 2020, and written March 18- April 21, 2021. Thus, this Report represents behaviors and attitudes during a pandemic environment.

The first COVID-19 case was confirmed in the US in January 2020. It was declared a global health pandemic and national emergency in early March 2020. Across the US, various stay-at-home orders were put in place in Spring 2020, and non-essential businesses and school districts closed or shifted to remote operations. The remainder of 2020 saw rolling orders, as states and local governments relaxed and reinforced guidelines according to the spread of the virus in each region.

Vaccine rollout began in December 2020. Based on current estimates of vaccine production and distribution, the US could reach herd immunity, with 70-85% of the population vaccinated, by late summer to early fall 2021. Mintel anticipates business operations in the US will remain in a state of flux through 2021 as the vaccine is widely administered.