“Building a drum beat. It’s the perfect moment now.”

That’s Geoffroy van Raemdonck, the former chief executive officer of the Neiman Marcus Group, suggesting ways businesses catering to wealthy consumers can adapt and gather some momentum amid the current luxury market slump.

Participating at a “luxury executive roundtable” hosted by the Boston Consulting Group at its offices in Manhattan’s Hudson Yards earlier this month, van Raemdonck emphasized developing new initiatives and “holding people to a standard of agility that in luxury we’ve not had.”

Van Raemdonck, who served as NMG’s CEO for nearly seven years until Saks Global bought the business last December, is now a senior adviser at BCG, and was among several other BCG officials providing statistics on the luxury market, and thoughts on meeting the challenges of the sector.

In-store events, activations; exclusive offerings, often in the form of designer capsules, and clienteling were a big part of the program van Raemdonck brought to NMG. Clienteling, he said, serves the “VIC” (very important customer) very well. “Statistics show that VICs on average shop nine brands, but they’re recognized by two brands,” he said. “Refocus on the relationship. Clearly, this is in the hands of the client advisers. It has to be human-led, but client advisers can be equipped with much more sophisticated insights on clients,” through data and technology.

“Second, refocus the experience, and work on dedicated, much more exclusive, intimate-type experiences tailor-made with unique products. Figuring out what is the best way to do clienteling today, with the tools we have, is probably the best thing you can do to drive growth, but most importantly, to delight your customers.

“At Neiman’s we [became] so much more agile and willing to try things, to test things. Our teams became much more incentivized and driven. What you can do the most for your brand, is bringing that sense of hope.”

Veronique Yang, BCG’s managing director, senior partner, and head of fashion and luxury for Asia-Pacific region, addressed what luxury businesses can do to offset the luxury slowdown in China. “Chinese consumers’ global share of luxury has decreased from 33 percent in 2019 to one quarter last year, but 25 percent is still very significant in terms of scale,” she said. “Chinese consumers are not really shutting down to luxury. It’s the challenge of the macroeconomics that makes them more cautious in terms of their discretionary spending.”

Rather than panic, Yang urged the audience of luxury brands and retailers to remain “patient” and plan for the long term. “China’s GDP growth used to enjoy a very fast speed at the range of 6 to 10 percent before COVID, but for the past two years, it’s around 5 percent and [consumer] consumption is slower than that. Their balance sheets got a serious hit after COVID. Consumers are becoming more sophisticated and demanding, and the retail landscape is also changing significantly.” She said brands operating in China saw double-digit declines last year and most likely will see a single-digit decline this year.

However, sports-related products and affordable luxury are taking share from other categories in China, where consumers want clothes versatile enough to wear across different occasions. Businessmen “bond” participating together in sports such as skiing, golf, and running marathons, she said. “They want clothes that have functional and technical attributes they can wear to these outdoor events, and at the same time, wear back to the hotel for a nice drink or meal with their business partners,” Yang said.

Shoppers in China are “super digital” she said, noting 95 percent of their purchases are digitally influenced. “And this is also the first year online become the first source of brand inspiration, surpassing brand offline stores.”

Yang also said Chinese luxury malls and department stores are transforming, mentioning, for example, how activewear and toy brands are moving into prominent first-floor positions, displacing some of the traditional placement of beauty. “You need to rethink your store format and store experiences,” she advised.

Beatrice Lemucchi, BCG’s managing director and head of fashion and luxury, Europe, Middle East and Africa, said brands “bombard” VICs with communications, whether by email, WhatsApp, newsletters or some other channel. “They receive on average, between 40 to 60 communications per month by different brands. So that’s between one or two per day of any type. Clearly there is a big feeling of a being overwhelmed,” and a feeling that brands need communications to be more tailored and personalized.

Lemucchi also said VICs when shopping stores are increasingly searching intimacy and privacy and spaces dedicated to new categories that weren’t available before.

At the event, BCG released its latest findings from a survey last June of 7,000 luxury shoppers in 10 countries and regions, including VIC and CEO interviews, done in conjunction with Altagamma, the association of Italian luxury brands. The survey indicated that 35 percent of the respondents that fit into the aspirational shopper category have either curtailed or stopped their personal spend on luxury, and that personal luxury categories are “overexposed” to aspirationals.

“High exposure to aspirational shoppers correlates with recent underperformance across the board,” the study indicated.

The study also advised to “catch” more of the wallet from high net worth consumers, “you need to expand” into additional categories; adopt a “health as wealth” mindset; jewelry, watches and prestige beauty will have future growth, and that shoes, apparel and wines decelerated in the past 18 months, but should enjoy higher spend on the horizon.