Many mid-market luxury brands are cautiously entering loyalty and cashback ecosystems once considered off-limits for fear those programs might be detrimental to the brand’s identity.

AI is already reshaping discovery, clienteling, service and operations. Yet most organizations are stuck in pilot mode because AI sits outside the real workflow.

One message from small luxury businesses is clear: marketing has never been more competitive, more dynamic or more essential to growth.

For decades, luxury operated on an unspoken agreement: If it was expensive enough, it was valuable enough. That agreement is quietly dissolving.

The global luxury business is at an inflection point where demand is strong at the high-end from an ever-growing wealthy class, and flat at the aspirational level. Throw in the ongoing geopolitical challenges and U.S. government tariffs and antipathy to tourists. Then add the tech frenemy in the mix, AI. What should luxury marketers and professionals do? Where should they turn?

Saks Global’s potential Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing – more likely than not, if the luxury retailer’s words are to mean anything – reflects a harsh reality that the industry refuses to accept: the department store model is not fit for purpose in the 21st century, and certainly not for today’s shopper.