Consumer spending is the heart of the US economy—more specifically, spending by high-income, or luxury, consumers. These luxury consumers are optimistic about the economic landscape, and how and what they spend their money on reflects this attitude. But while not everyone can spend like a luxury consumer, can their attitudes provide economic insight for the rest of us?

Just in time for the holiday shopping season, this episode we talk with Emily Essner, the Chief Marketing Officer for Saks Fifth Avenue. Saks is a well-established luxury department store chain, operating its brick-and-mortar stores and e-commerce platform as separate entities.

Emily started at Saks Fifth Avenue in 2011, holding multiple roles before ultimately becoming the CMO for Saks, the standalone e-commerce platform of the brand. Prior to Saks, Emily was an investment banking analyst at Morgan Stanley, as well as a senior associate at McKinsey & Company. She holds an MBA from Columbia Business School, as well as a Bachelor’s Degree from Mount Holyoke College.

For more, read Liz’s column every Thursday at On The Money by SoFi, sign up for the SoFi Daily Newsletter, and follow Liz on Twitter @LizThomasStrat.

Notable mentions in the episode:

00:00 Introduction

01:55 Luxury Consumer Insights

06:10 Durability of Luxury Industry and Trends

09:56 The Entry Point for Luxury Goods

12:08 The Emerging Luxury Consumer

19:31 Using Personalization in Marketing Strategies

21:39 The Role of Brand Loyalty

26:18 Sak’s Philosophy of Resource Allocation

29:13 Promotions During the Holiday Season

33:43 Closing Thoughts

Additional resources:

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