Saks joins peers in launching digital media network to connect brands with luxury consumers

26 Apr 2024 --- Luxury e-commerce platform Saks launches a “technology-driven” media network to help brands reach the luxury retailer’s customer base with digital advertising throughout the shopping experience.

Joining its peers Macy’s and Nordstrom, the company aims to help participating brands deliver “product inspiration and discovery that aligns with customers’ interests.” It is optimizing first-party data within the Saks Media Network to broaden its on-site experience capabilities for luxury shoppers. 

“With the launch of our Saks Media Network, we are expanding our offerings for brand partners by helping their products reach the right luxury customers when and where they are actively looking to purchase,” says Kristin Maa, senior VP of Growth at Saks. 

“Our view of the full shopping journey across the Saks Fifth Avenue digital and physical ecosystem enables meaningful, personalized customer engagement and product discovery, and the Saks Media Network is the next step in leveraging our data-driven insights and industry expertise to enhance the customer experience.”

Media network helps brands
Through the Saks Media Network, with over 435 million annual site visits, brands have the “opportunity to boost their revenue” on Saks.com through sponsored product ads and on-site display banners.

As the company progresses in its strategy to serve the entire continuum of luxury shoppers, the Saks Media Network will expand the potential of its brand, first-party customer data, and site traffic while “strengthening relationships” with brand partners.

Saks launches an online media network to help connect consumers with brands.Saks’ strategic in-house media team leverages customized strategies to help brand partners drive business, matching their goals with opportunities to achieve them, supported by reporting and insights. Saks says the Saks media network will bring the opportunity “to engage with this customer segment to a broader set of partners.”

Ramy Brook Sharp, founder and creative director of Ramy Brook, says: “Saks’ Media Network presented an exciting new avenue to achieve our business goals by increasing our brand’s visibility and driving improvements in both traffic and revenue for Ramy Brook on Saks’ e-commerce platform.”

Lower luxury sales
Kering’s first quarter results saw group revenue dive 11% year-over-year to €4.5 million (US$4.8 million). The French-based multinational company, which specializes in luxury goods, attributes the drop in revenue to a “backdrop of normalization in the luxury sector” and transitions within the group’s houses.

The luxury goods conglomerate points to Gucci’s lackluster performance with lower sales. Revenue was down 21% for the brand. It names the “sluggish market conditions,” notably in China, and the repositioning of certain brand Houses.

Yves Saint Laurent and Bottega Veneta also dropped 8% and 2%, respectively. Revenue from the group’s other house totaled €824 million (US$884 million), down 7% as reported.

Beauty AI and tech
Beauty technology is a growing trend in the sector. Unilever recently launched Wonder Wash, developed with robotics and AI, under its Dirt Is Good brand — also known as OMO, Persil, Skip, Surf Excel, Rinso and Breeze — in response to consumers evolving laundry needs and increased use of technology.

Earlier this month, Dove released a global report entitled 2024 The Real State of Beauty. The report uncovered women’s perception of beauty standards and how AI is changing the landscape. 

The company anticipates that 90% of the content online will be AI-generated by 2025, eliciting a “threat to women’s well-being.” One in three women feel pressure to alter their appearance because of what they see online, even when they know the image is fake or AI-generated, it asserts.

By Sabine Waldeck