Net-a-Porter Adopts Discreet Packaging for Guilty Online Shoppers

Whereas previously the direct marketing email from the world's pre-eminent online luxury fashion retailer would have been accompanied by a strong, aspirational fashion image, the latest email features whispering women in a 1950's era photograph. The ad, while cleverly recalling the current fashion revival of the one-piece dress, focuses its message instead on the opportunity to continue to shop "and receive items in an unbranded recycled brown paper bag."

The move to the discreet strategy is even more noteworthy when one considers that the deluxe packaging usually offered by Net-a-Porter has generally been thought of one of the secrets to the success of the online retailer, and certainly one of the defining moments in its customer experience. Indeed, fashion magazines are currently running two-page Net-a-Porter advertisements showing nothing but the company's famous black boxes.

So why the abrupt change of strategy? The answer is clear: consumer confidence is at record lows. This graphic from the New York Times shows that American consumer confidence is at its lowest point since The Conference Board first began to gather data for its well-known survey more than four decades ago.