The Commoditization of Luxury

The New York-based Luxury Institute recently released its 2009 State of the Luxury Industry survey and had this to say about the increasing number of offerings labeling themselves as luxury: “It doesn't help matters that potential customers feel the luxury market has become over saturated with offerings: 53 percent of the Luxury Institute poll's wealthy respondents said they believe (there were too many luxury brands). Similar polling at the beginning of this year found 44 percent of respondents saying luxury brands were becoming ‘commodities,’ a dirty word if ever there was one in this sector.”