As AI catches on across luxury, brands play up their emotional value

""At the very top end of luxury, you're not selling a product, you're selling a feeling," "People don't come to Harrods just to transact. They come for theatre, inspiration and experiences that stay with them. That emotional connection is what brings them back. We've invested heavily in private shopping, so we have three grades now of private shopping - a fantastic service at the entry point.""

"That tension has surfaced repeatedly across the conference this week. AI has often been referred to as core infrastructure, but many leaders have stressed that it has made the human layer more important, not less. As discovery and transactions fragment across platforms, brands have less control over where customers encounter them and more pressure to deliver meaning wherever those interactions occur."

"As artificial intelligence becomes embedded within luxury operations, from marketing and personalization to inventory and clienteling, brands are increasingly doubling down on what technology cannot replicate: emotional connection. Over the past decade, luxury has relentlessly optimized for ROI, investing heavily in data, CRM systems and performance marketing. And at Shoptalk Luxe, vendors and brands alike described deeper AI integration than ever before, with automation now underpinning everything from media buying to e-commerce search."

Artificial intelligence now underpins many luxury operations, powering marketing, personalization, inventory and clienteling while automating media buying and e-commerce search. Brands are pairing AI-driven efficiency with renewed emphasis on emotional connection and human-led experiences to maintain long-term value as growth slows and consumers become more selective. Luxury experiences prioritize theatre, inspiration and private shopping tiers that foster loyalty beyond transactions. Technology enables pattern recognition and customer understanding at scale but cannot replace atmosphere or intuition. Fragmented discovery across platforms reduces brand control and increases pressure to deliver meaning at every interaction. Traditional e-commerce metrics often fail to capture this experiential value.

Read at Digiday