“If I’m traveling, I prefer larger stores like Galeries Lafayette and Bloomingdale’s — it’s more fun, there are more experiences. I love discovering new fashion and brands,” said one respondent based in Saudi Arabia.
The rise of DTC has therefore not replaced wholesale so much as changed what brands expect from it. “There’s been a gradual shift from the top luxury brands and holding companies toward controlling the customer and the data, but they’re still keeping wholesale because it remains a key marketing channel,” says Stéphanie Smith, founder and CEO of wholesale scheduling and CRM platform Modaresa. “Yes, you’re giving margin away, and yes, you have less control of the customer data. But piercing through on DTC is so difficult now; the cost of paid ads is obscene.”
Nevertheless, to convince brands to take a risk on wholesale today, retail partners have to raise the bar, with full-price strategies, reliable payment terms, visibility into customer data — and by offering an experience brands cannot easily replicate themselves.
“Brands need to feel that the experience, the editorial, the curation, is so special and different that it brings them in front of customers that might never find them otherwise,” says von der Goltz.
Step 1: Prioritize partners with a point of view
As choice explodes across DTC, wholesale, marketplaces and resale, curation becomes more valuable than ever.
Our research suggests consumers expect multi-brand environments to deliver tighter edits and a sense of cultural relevance that cuts through the noise. Spaces such as Dover Street Market are repeatedly cited by consumers as examples of multi-brand retail done well — environments that feel distinctive, editorial, and culturally engaged.
“Knowing your customer really, really well” is now critical, says Lisa Aiken, Vogue’s executive fashion director and Condé Nast’s SVP of fashion and lifestyle shopping. Traditional department stores were built to appeal to broad geographic audiences, whereas digital retail increasingly rewards specificity, she adds. Retailers such as Mytheresa and Revolve Group-owned Fwrd have succeeded, in part, because they maintain a highly defined view of their customer, rather than attempting to cater to everyone at once.
It’s not an easy balance to strike. Focus groups also suggest that one of the biggest frustrations with department stores is the lack of breadth within concessions. Luxury shoppers say selections can often feel commercially driven or incomplete. At the same time, retailers face rising pressure to predict demand in a far less predictable environment, where viral moments, celebrity placement, and the algorithm can rapidly influence demand.
“You’re assorting across maybe 100 styles in a collection and narrowing it down to 20,” says Aiken. “Doing that when you don’t know what’s going to land on social or with a celebrity is one of the hardest parts of the business now.”
At Paris-based department store Printemps, chief merchandising officer Maud Barrionuevo describes a move toward more concept-driven assortments, alongside a greater emphasis on experience. “The offer is today more exclusive, more selective, more curated,” she says, pointing to themed edits and localized assortments tailored to each market, such as an edit of niche French beauty brands in the New York store.
