How Can Luxury Retailers Win Holiday Shoppers In 2025?

As the winter holiday season approaches, retailers are bracing for a different kind of peak this year.

Recent surveys indicate that economic pressures from inflation and rising costs are reshaping consumer behavior. Shoppers across generations and income groups are becoming more cautious about how they’re spending.

For retailers, especially in the luxury sector, the challenge is clear: finding new ways to inspire customers to open their wallets when practicality is the new priority.

What Do Shoppers Want in This Holiday Season?

This autumn and winter, consumers seem to be scaling back on their spending. They’re also starting holiday shopping earlier, focusing on the essentials, and weighing every dollar spent.

Even affluent shoppers are thinking twice about discretionary purchases. For them, it’s about spending smarter. They’re increasingly favoring meaningful experiences, community-driven moments, and sustainable choices over purchased goods.

The focus has shifted from the product to the value it represents.

Additionally, online shopping is convenient for digital consumers, but it often lacks the personal touch they want. They’re growing weary of mismatched expectations, delayed deliveries, and the hassle of returns.

What they’re really craving is the convenience of online shopping with an experience that’s tangible and thoughtful at the same time. They want to step away from screens and into spaces that feel curated, personalized, and memorable.

Brands that can offer a seamless shopping journey across channels, paired with human connections and lasting value are best positioned to drive sales and customer trust.

In a season marked by economic uncertainty, retailers must think beyond selling and find tactics that help build loyalty with experiences that are memorable.

Top Retail Tactics to Inspire Spending

In the second half of 2025, the retail customer landscape is anything but simple, but for luxury retailers, it’s good news.

If they’re willing to adapt, they’re perfectly positioned to meet the complex expectations of winter holiday shoppers this year. Many big brands are already reimagining their flagship stores on the high street from transactional venues to immersive experience hubs.

Think of exclusive workshops, personal styling consultations, designer meet-and-greets, and other curated events that invite customers to connect in meaningful ways.

Moving beyond points of sale is no longer a nice-to-have for luxury brands. It’s a strategic step to build emotional connections with customers, strengthen brand loyalty, and ultimately boost sales.

Controversial as it may sound, technology plays a key role in making these experiences feel more human.

Technology can provide the convenience consumers are looking for to create more personalized service and opportunities for meaningful interactions that only face-to-face interactions can provide.

Let’s look at two real-world examples of how this works in practice.

1. Drive Personalization with Pre-Scheduled Appointments and Events

One-to-one consultations and pre-booked appointments were once considered a luxury, but in modern retail, they’re simply expected. If you want to truly elevate your premium offerings, it’s time to create frictionless, personalized experiences across channels.

Craft effortless journeys that make your customers feel like VIPs, not just users clicking through a checklist, or even worse, wrestling with rigid systems. If your customers feel seen and cared for through intuitive, human-centered service, you’re already earning their loyalty.

With Verint Appointment Booking, luxury brands can enable customers to book styling sessions and gift consultations however they prefer: online, in-store, or even via a video call. The journey starts digitally but leads to a curated, face-to-face experience designed around the needs of the specific shopper.

Customers then receive timely reminders, and when they walk through the door, store associates are equipped with valuable insights from CRM integrations to deliver a service that feels thoughtful and personal.

Our digital appointment booking tool also integrates with your virtual assistant, capturing contextual data the moment someone clicks “Book an Appointment” to trigger tailored workflows that match each customer with the right associate in-store or via video.

To take these personalized experiences even further, Verint Event Management helps retailers plan, promote, and manage in-store events with ease.

Whether it’s a designer meet-and-greet, a holiday workshop, or a VIP preview, the solution ensures every detail is coordinated from registration to reminders, so customers feel like they’re part of something special.

The business outcomes are strong, fast, and measurable. Using Verint Appointment Booking, a luxury department store saw a 13 percent increase in appointments and found that 78 percent of those customers made a purchase.

2. Cut Through the Line with a Digital Queuing System

Most shoppers won’t think twice about walking out of a store if they see a long line at the door. Yet, in the world of luxury retail, you might think that a queue at the store front signals exclusivity and desirability. Just think of VIP product launches or limited-edition collections that thrive on scarcity.

However, there’s a fine line between creating a buzz with well-managed waitlists and wasting customers’ time with manual or outdated queue management solutions. It’s especially true during the peak shopping season when customer expectations are even higher.

With Verint Queue Management, big brands are turning waiting into a smooth, stress-free part of the retail journey.

Shoppers can join a virtual queue with a quick scan of a QR code, get real-time updates on their wait time, and browse freely while they wait. It’s a subtle shift with a big impact: fewer walkouts, more purchases, and happier customers.

With the holiday rush approaching, creating a seamless and enjoyable waiting experience is getting even more crucial.

A luxury fashion retailer put our queue management solution into action at their busy stores and saw immediate results: more returning customers, increased sales, and stronger customer relationships.

When waiting feels effortless, the entire shopping experience becomes more pleasant for the customer, and more profitable for the retailer.

Create Meaningful Holiday Shopping Experiences with Verint

Now when customers engage with brands across more channels than ever, retailers need to ensure a seamless experience that bridges the gap between online and offline touchpoints.

Verint solutions are designed to help brands meet customers where they are whether that’s on a smartphone screen or in a luxury store on the high street.

Our solutions not only streamline operations but also unlock powerful insights that empower staff, optimize resources, and personalize every interaction.

That’s how you can turn a simple store visit into an outstanding experience and a first-time shopper into a loyal brand advocate.

While this holiday season may be uncertain, your strategy doesn’t have to be. By marrying physical and digital channels, you can deliver experiences that resonate far beyond the next purchase.

Our queue management solutions and appointment booking tool are built to elevate the retail journey, drive conversion, and create real value for both customers and brands.

Discover how Verint can help you elevate your holiday retail strategy with smarter, stronger, measurable outcomes here.