Date of Award

2026

Document Type

Dissertation - Restricted Access (SIA Only)

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Luxury Business

Abstract

With rapid developments in technology, phygital spaces are becoming the norm, pushing luxury retailers grounded in tradition to evolve and to look to the future. This dissertation examines the potential applications of facial recognition technology in physical, in-store luxury retailing. Saunders’ Research Onion was selected to guide the methodology, which includes the application of a pragmatic research philosophy; a deductive research approach; a research strategy involving a case study of womenswear boutique Ruti, interviews with retail and technology experts, and a survey of 64 in-store luxury shoppers; a multi-method approach; cross-sectional time horizon; and techniques and procedures consisting of a luxury client survey, three industry expert interviews, and in-boutique observation. This is complemented with secondary research in the form of a literature review. Key findings indicate that consumers and experts are open to utilizing FRT in luxury retail environments, but hesitant about data security, discrimination, and the lack of transparency. The results establish that FRT may be implemented in luxury retailers as long as there are strict opt-in policies, retailers take client feedback into consideration, and the technology does not compromise human-driven interactions and client relationship building.

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