Who are the “very important customers”, pampered by the big houses?

If the latest luxury results are not flourishing, certain sectors, such as jewelry, stand out, carried by a very special clientele, “very important customers”. For example, Higher purchasing power, privileged relationship and personalized experiences: they redraw the priorities of luxury houses.

While the French luxury giants. For example, LVMH and Kering, have dropped results for the first semester 2025, a bastion resists and pulls out of the game: jewelry. Furthermore, Between the current of gloomy trends in the sector. Meanwhile, this segment benefits from precious support, that of an excessive purchasing power and unusual loyalty: the VIC, or “Very important customers”.

More than a niche market, these customers today become the strategic axis of many houses. For example, But then, who are these customers and how to seduce them?

Luxury in the face of a polarization of its customers – Who "very important customers", pampered

The decline is clear: who “very important customers”, pampered LVMH saw its sales fall by 4% compared to last year. Nevertheless, with a fashion and leather goods division decreasing by 8%. Therefore, At Kering. In addition, the turnover in the first half of 2025 is down 15%, Notemmrent marked by the loss of desirability shown by its flagship claw, Gucci. For example, Indeed, the Italian fashion brand recorded a turnover of 3 billion euros, or 25% less compared to the preceding year.

Opposite. Furthermore, Richemont, a Swiss group specializing in “Hard Luxury”, namely jewelry and watchmaking, displays an increase of 11%, carried in particular by the success of houses like Cartier or Van Cleef & Arpels. Meanwhile, Why such a gap? For example, As Deutsche Bank noted in April. Moreover, jewelry is less penalized than other luxury sectors by the disappearance of so -called “suction” customers, which tends to opt for less expensive items.

Inevitably, it gives ideas to competition. Consequently, who “very important customers”, pampered Lately. Furthermore, it’s the Bulgari house, property of the LVMH group, which inaugurated the expansion of its Manufacturebringing the space to 33,000 m² and thus becoming the largest monoarrow jewelry site in the world. Meanwhile, Objective: double production capacities by 2029 and exceed 1,600 employees. Similarly, An investment largely motivated by growing demand … In addition, very important customers “.

Indeed. Therefore, jewelry and high jewelry, often perceived as “refuges” who “very important customers”, pampered values, are based on a more stable and more exclusive clientele, insensitive to economic fluctuations: the famous VIC, these buyers at the heart of growth strategies. Their profile is as discreet as they are influencing. According to the Italian economic daily The sun 24 hoursthere are about 600. 000 in the world – a figure which should reach a million by 2030 – and the latter have an average basket 200 times higher than that of a conventional client.

Experiences, personalization, privileged relationships …

Their entry ticket? At least 50. 000 euros in annual expenses and in certain large luxury houses, it is a question of spending between 100,000 and 200,000 dollars per year to be considered as a Very Important Client. These buyers would have more than 213 billion euros in consumption per year. or almost a quarter of the global turnover in the sector for less than 1% who “very important customers”, pampered of customers. According to Bain & Company, it is even the richest 2% that concentrate 40% of sales in the luxury industry. A crucial lever during periods of economic slowdown.

“The VICs are the best customers of our customers. Their degree of requirement is such that each interaction must be prepared as a performance. ” said Annabelle Cordonne and Eva Mollier, of the private concierge John Paul.

Confidential trips in workshops, dinners with creators, access to exclusive or tailor -made parts, first ranks to parades … Their loyalty is bought with attention and symbolic recognition.

“These customers are particularly sensitive to hyper-personalization. Beyond the products they buy, they want to pay attention. In addition, it is also a question of being honest and not to want to sell them everything and anything. They are very connoisseurs. our sale of sale must not be yet another commercial speech, that makes them flee”, who “very important customers”, pampered underlines Benjamin Serretta, ex-seller within the luxury brand Gucci.

Some houses have made this clientele a strategic axis: the luxury e-commerce platform MyTheresa has designed a VIC program around personal stylists. ultra-premium deliveries. Houses like Gucci, Dior or Tiffany multiply private salons and tailor-made experiences, far from standardized trade. Like Boucheron, whose Place Vendôme store has a private lounge with independent access to receive its Vic. On the program: meeting with craftsmen, presentation of unpublished masterpieces and confidential welcome.

Luxury sellers: pillars of this exceptional relationship

Who who “very important customers”, pampered &quot. very important customers", pampered

At the heart of this refined mechanism, a figure often remains in the shadows: the luxury seller. Or rather, the personal advisor. For these ultra-extension customers, the commercial relationship becomes intimate. Exchanges leave the formal framework: private phone calls. SMS at all times, lunches, personalized gifts, these sellers are more than ever the exceptional sales guarantors whose sums can reach records.

“Vic know that I call them as soon as the collection arrives. I put aside certain pieces just for them. I show them in secret, often directly in the fitting room,” said Juana, a saleswoman in a French luxury boutique, in an article in the Journal of Marketing.

“I also offer them gifts. But not objects of the brand. If I know that a client loves opera and comes to Paris, I have tickets for her. It is a attention that has nothing to do who “very important customers”, pampered with the product, but everything to do with the relationship.”

The shop then became the scene of confidence. personal strategies. Sellers become key loyalty figures, mobilizing discretion, intuition and creativity.

Vic. new faces of luxury campaigns

“There is however an inconsistency between reality and the rules imposed by the seat”, nuance Benjamin Serratta. “For example, it who “very important customers”, pampered is complicated to reserve a room for a vic. For this, he will have to pay it in advance, which is often delicate. In addition. if certain parts are unavailable in a shop, they must be the subject of a transfer via another point of sale. This requires time, exchanges, validations … and alters the relationships between the brand and the VIC, used to obtaining the room they wish very quickly.”

“Logistics is sometimes a brake on tailor-made service.”

More. more brands are, however, aware of the importance of these premium customers and no longer hesitate to highlight them, especially in their campaigns. These customers, long in the shadows, now become the ambassadors of a luxury lived, sincere and embodied.

Burberry has, for example, honored, in its winter campaign “Wrapped in Burberry”, Doctor Herschel and Lilly Stoller, a couple of loyal Americans for 20 years at home. Their passion for the checkered motif has made them authentic faces of the brand.

For its part, Loewe joined its spring-summer 2025 pre-color Sue Kroll, marketing director of Amazon MGM Studios. Long -time client. she appears there alongside celebrities, not because of her media status, but for her real attachment to the creations of Jonathan who “very important customers”, pampered Anderson.

While the aspirational clientele is rarer, VICs are not only a market segment, they are the heart. At a time when digitalization and artificial intelligence are everywhere, houses must bet on the exception, proximity and loyalty. It is a question of recreating bonds. deep relations in order to continue to shine even when the market vacillates.