Luxury houses have spent a decade perfecting the moment of purchase. A new white paper argues that the decisive moment now comes afterwards. In Les nouveaux horizons de l’after-sales, published in August 2026 by the consultancy mc2i and the technology providers Trust-Place and Prolong, the authors conclude that repair, care, authentication and the relationship that follows a sale have become the real test of client loyalty. With 70 % of luxury clients having changed their favourite brand in five years, the paper treats after-sales as the place where a house confirms, or forfeits, the trust it was given at the counter.
A study built on conversations with the maisons
The white paper draws on in-depth interviews with retail, after-sales, operations, IT and supply chain leaders at around ten international luxury maisons and premium brands, covering jewellery, watchmaking, leather goods and ready-to-wear. Its authors work in this field: mc2i advises luxury and retail groups on digital transformation, Prolong provides an after-sales operating platform and Trust-Place provides digital certificates of ownership. Several of the examples cited come from their own platforms, which readers should bear in mind.
The paper defines after-sales broadly, across seven areas: simplified returns; care, repair and personalisation; secure transfer and resale; proof of authenticity; protection against theft and loss; end of life and recyclability; and the lasting relationship after purchase.
Why after-sales has become the loyalty test
The authors start from a plain observation. Clients now buy a promise of durability as much as an object, and the certainty of being able to maintain, repair or pass on a piece has become a purchasing criterion in its own right, alongside design and price.
“After-sales is the main lever of loyalty and acquisition.”
Loic Agopian, Head of Omnichannel Client Experience & Care Solutions, Groupe de Luxe
The clients who come back are often the best ones
Clients who use after-sales represent only 3 % of total flow in luxury, yet 18 % of them are Very Important Clients. A request for repair is therefore frequently a conversation with the most valuable part of a house’s clientele.
A gap between ambition and execution
The interviews describe processes still run on spreadsheets, email chains and messaging threads, with responsibility shared between boutiques, workshops, quality and customer service. A jewellery house’s Global Head of Retail Operations estimates 40 minutes of administrative work for each repair. For some brands, an average of 7.2 exchanges with the client is needed to decide whether a product can be repaired. Turnaround times range from a 30-day target achieved by part of the market to more than three months elsewhere.
What the leading houses are measuring
Asked to rank their priorities out of five, the maisons placed care, repair and personalisation first (4.3), proof of authenticity and ownership second (3.9) and simplified returns third (3.6). The authors read this as a shift from after-sales that fixes what is broken towards after-sales that creates value by maintaining and authenticating.
The paper’s most detailed case concerns a large couture house: 91 % repairability on leather goods, its flagship category, and 76 % of repairs closed in under 29 days, against 10 to 12 weeks in less mature organisations. Care events organised around its leather goods convert at above 30 %.
On the operational side, the authors report that moving from a dispersed organisation to a centralised platform reduces operating costs by 30 % on average. A self-diagnosis pilot reached 80 to 90 % accuracy in identifying defects, bringing an exchange that averaged seven interactions down to one or two.
From buyer to member: the digital certificate
The third part of the paper turns to the relationship itself. The authors describe a move from the client as buyer to the client as member, in which a digital certificate of ownership is no longer only proof of authenticity but a key to the house: reserved content, personalised services, private events and relationship programmes. Clients, they write, expect transparency, autonomy, simplicity and proactive contact, including maintenance reminders and invitations, rather than silence until something goes wrong.
The paper names watchmaking among the sectors where this matters most, because the value of the object is built over time and depends on its traceability, its maintenance and its transmissibility. It also presents the certificate as a response to “dupes”: a design can be copied, whereas certified authenticity, a direct relationship with the house and membership of its community cannot.
What it means for fine watchmaking
For watch owners, servicing is part of ownership rather than an exception, which places the workshop visit at the centre of the relationship the paper describes. The authors’ recommendations translate readily: a service journey that is tracked and communicated proactively; a certificate that follows the watch through servicing, gifting and resale; and boutique advisers equipped and recognised for after-sales rather than measured on sales alone. The maisons interviewed share a vision for 2030 in which after-sales becomes a moment as positive as the purchase, with visible repair corners that bring craftsmanship back into the boutique.
“In luxury, one buys a product once. One chooses a house for life.”
Head of After-sales, Maison de Luxe
Regulation as an accelerant
The authors note that European rules are pushing in the same direction. The Digital Product Passport will give each product a digital identity covering its components, reparability and maintenance history, while the Right to Repair directive requires access to spare parts for five to ten years depending on category.
Key figures
- 70 % of luxury clients changed their favourite brand in the past five years (Accenture, cited by the paper)
- 3 % of client flow uses after-sales; 18 % of those clients are Very Important Clients
- 40 minutes of administrative work per repair, according to one jewellery house
- 80 to 90 % accuracy for a self-diagnosis pilot, from seven interactions to one or two
- 91 % repairability and 76 % of repairs closed in under 29 days at one couture house
- Above 30 % conversion at that house’s care events
- 30 % average reduction in operating costs with a centralised platform
Frequently asked questions
What is after-sales in the luxury sector?
The white paper defines it as every service offered after purchase: returns, care and repair, secure resale, proof of authenticity, protection against theft, end of life and the ongoing relationship. It covers each moment of contact between a house and the owner of a product.
Why does after-sales matter for luxury client loyalty?
Loyalty has become volatile: 70 % of luxury clients changed their favourite brand in five years, according to Accenture figures cited in the paper. Clients who use after-sales are also disproportionately valuable, with 18 % of them classed as Very Important Clients.
What is a digital certificate of ownership?
It is a digital record attached to a product and its owner that proves authenticity and traceability. The paper describes it as a key to the house’s community, giving access to reserved content, services and events, and allowing the certificate to be transferred on resale or as a gift.
How long should a luxury repair take?
The paper cites a 30-day target met by part of the market, while other organisations take 10 to 12 weeks or more than three months. At the couture house studied, 76 % of repairs were closed in under 29 days.
A relationship built over time
The white paper closes on a change of perspective: after-sales is no longer a service a house renders but a relationship it builds. For fine watchmaking, where a well-kept watch may pass through several workshop visits and several owners, that relationship is long by nature. The houses that organise it with care are, on this evidence, the ones most likely to keep their clients.
Source: Les nouveaux horizons de l’after-sales. Comment transformer ses services après-vente en un levier stratégique et réinventer la relation client post-achat ?, white paper by mc2i, Trust-Place and Prolong, August 2026.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the main areas covered in luxury after-sales service according to the white paper?
The white paper defines after-sales across seven areas: simplified returns, care and repair and personalisation, secure transfer and resale, proof of authenticity, protection against theft and loss, end of life and recyclability, and the lasting relationship after purchase. These domains reflect how luxury houses now approach the relationship with clients beyond the initial sale.
Why is after-sales becoming more important for luxury brand loyalty?
Clients increasingly buy a promise of durability alongside the object itself, making the certainty of being able to maintain, repair or pass on a piece a key purchasing criterion. With 70% of luxury clients having changed their favourite brand in five years, after-sales has become the real test of whether a house confirms or forfeits the trust given at purchase.
How much can luxury houses reduce operating costs by centralising their after-sales operations?
Moving from a dispersed organisation to a centralised after-sales platform reduces operating costs by 30% on average, while also improving efficiency in areas like defect identification and reducing the number of client exchanges needed to resolve issues.
