The Impact of Factors in the Food and Beverage Businesses of Luxury Fashion Brands on Customer Loyalty and Retention

Luxury fashion brands are becoming more than what they were. They have taken the decision to branch out to the food and beverage industry, building restaurants and cafes globally. Vogue stated in an article that fashion brands open these businesses to attract customers and allow them to continually spend more time and money on their brands. Exploring how the luxury fashion brands’ food and beverage business affect customer behavior may indicate the effectiveness of their intended purposes. Therefore, this research paper aims to analyze the factors in the food and beverage business owned by a luxury fashion brand that could increase customer loyalty and retention. This study inspects the internal and external factors within the business using a qualitative method. The study uses interviews from a sample of 5 people, aged 18 – 25, who have visited at least one restaurant or cafe owned by a luxury fashion brand and a personal observation of Ralph Lauren’s food and beverage business in Paris. As most customers agree that the factors studied only affect their satisfaction in dining, the research found that their food and beverage businesses do not cause a definite increase in customer loyalty and retention towards the brand. Customers believe that visiting one of the brand’s restaurants or cafes acts as an independent experience from purchasing. As for the future, the study can explore with different segmentations. This may reveal varying customer behavior than previous findings and lead to a more accurate conclusion by including most customer segments.