For luxury brands, the competition has always been fierce, particularly in the fashion world. With such a plethora of esteemed, world-renowned high-end brands to choose from, each must offer something special in order to keep their share of the market engaged, and clever marketing alone isn’t often enough to keep them coming back for more.
One of the major keys to success has always been having a thorough understanding of what customers want and need, and being prepared to move with the times – something that is vital in order to stay ahead of the game and continue to pique the interest of younger generations. Millennials and Gen Z-ers are spending far more today on designer luxury goods than so-called Baby Boomers, with more than 60 per cent of the former splurging up to £1,000 per month on high-end clothes, shoes and handbags despite acknowledging that, in some cases, they can’t really afford them.
But perhaps, more interestingly, we’re also seeing a new generation of Bitcoin millionaires spending huge amounts on luxurious goods and holidays each month, with many beginning their investment journey at a young age and going on to amass huge Bitcoin fortunes by their mid-twenties. With this in mind, it’s crucial that luxury brands meet the increasing demand to be able to make purchases in Bitcoin as well as fiat currency, and while fashion behemoths like Gucci and Philipp Plein have been some of the fastest to adapt and do just that, others are continuing to drag their feet.
This is something that Bitcoin payment processor OpenNode is effectively helping change, believing that by implementing this simple strategy, brands of all sizes can increase their luxury goods sales exponentially. In an insightful white paper published just last month, OpenNode outlined how by adding Bitcoin as an option to their current payment stack, many luxury brands have already seen an unprecedented spike in sales. By expanding their global consumer base and attracting younger, high-net-worth customers, they are appealing to the 135 million holders of Bitcoin globally, in a way that their competitors simply cannot.
Each day, an average of 300,000 Bitcoin transactions take place across the globe, and it’s a number that continues to grow. As more and more companies begin to recognise the virtues of accepting Bitcoin – not least, the fact that it allows customers to make instant domestic and international payments securely, at any time, with much lower fees incurred than with traditional financial services, and without chargeback or fraud risk – it’s only a matter of time until the rest of the luxury world catches on, and those that continue to tread water in the meantime could stand to lose out significantly.
It isn’t just high-end fashion brands that could stand to benefit from adopting Bitcoin as a means of payment, and those already successfully capitalising on the opportunity span the yachting, automotive, private jet and luxury travel spheres, too.
As a leading Bitcoin payment processor, OpenNode is, unsurprisingly, at the top of its game, offering hosted checkout and point-of-sale integrations to merchants in 160 countries. With transaction processing fees as low as one per cent, zero chargeback risk and instant settlement into the fiat currency of your choice, as well as easy API and plug-and-play integrations, it ticks all the right boxes for a fast, secure and easy-to-navigate experience for both merchants and consumers alike.
Brands who are already taking advantage of Bitcoin payments include Gucci, Hublot, Tag Heuer, Virgin Galactic and OffWhite, and companies who started accepting bitcoin through OpenNode reported a ten per cent increase in sales on average since making the move, which can equate to some big money in the luxury world.
With OpenNode, clients can protect themselves from Bitcoin price changes by instantly converting payments to local currencies at the time of payment – and at the speed of lightning, via the aptly named Lightning network. And thanks to robust security and data protection, the risk of fraud is eradicated.
With more than 80 million digital wallets currently holding Bitcoin globally and 50,000 businesses already accepting it, it’s clear to see that the luxury brands that have yet to jump on board with the opportunity are doing themselves a great disservice. The global appetite for Bitcoin is only continuing to grow. Thanks to an abundance of new trading platforms offering automatic signalling and user-friendly interfaces and functionality to support even complete newcomers to the digital currency investment world to get started, the demand for conducting transactions in Bitcoin will continue to surge.
In business, it’s almost always a case of sink or swim – and brands that adapt now won’t just stay afloat, but flourish. Those that don’t, on the other hand, may quickly fall behind their competitors and find it difficult to make a comeback at a later time.
