Why members-only, luxury lifestyle stores are the easiest way to shop

Sick of the high street? Luxury shopping just reached new levels. It’s time to consider members-only, luxury lifestyle stores. Join the Club, says Grace Allen.

Avoiding the tedium of schlepping around department stores is one of the many reasons more and more people are shopping online, and now it’s easier than ever, thanks to the series of luxury web shops popping up left, right and centre. First to the market was Achica, which launched in 2012. With a team of buyers securing lines from over 2,000 top-notch brands (Anglepoise and Pandora amongst them), as well as up-and-coming designers, it offers everything from fashion to homewares, food and even pet products. Members simply receive emails listing promotions, stating the cut-off point for each offer – the website is constantly updated so you have to be speedy to snap up each deal before it disappears.

Small wonder then, that with such a successful business model, others have rapidly followed in ACHICA’s footsteps. Casafina offers users fresh and luxurious looks with up to 70 per cent off the retail value and delivers them in a number of different themes such as French Chic or Farmhouse style living. Luxury shopping has never looked so good.

The shop’s Tastemaker sales, meanwhile, allow customers to buy items selected by big interiors names. Whatever the look, be it Moroccan-inspired, rustic, city-slick or country cottage, you will surely find what you need.

Keen on fostering and bringing together new and emerging designers, artists and artisans, Casafina has a number of big plans for the future – as owners Joe Murray and Richard Tucker say, ‘We’re looking forward to growing the brand and, in time, branching into collaborations with fashion designers and tastemakers, creating our own exclusive product, and offering ever more inspiring products to the Casafina customer.’

Elsewhere, Lux Deco draws a stylish crowd of luxury shoppers, selling brands like Missoni and Christian Lacroix and offering a pleasingly slick and easy-to-navigate website. Founder, Jonathan Holmes, says ‘At LuxDeco we want to change how people around the world shop for beautiful furnishings by creating a simple, personal and enjoyable shopping experience from discovery to purchase’, ensuring that ‘amazing personal service is at the core of everything we do’.

Really, the greatest appeal with these companies is that you can find a look that you like, and create it with minimal hassle, curating your space without major investment of time or money.