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New York, NY--Luxury jewelry shoppers typically used to fall into one of two categories: there was the impulsive shopper (often male, seen frequently on December 24 at 5 p.m., or panicking on the eve of his anniversary), or there was the shopper who would browse the store, find a piece she loved, then come back multiple times to visit it until she actually acquired it.

Today, however, there’s a new sense of urgency at retail, including for luxury products and jewelry. Spurred on originally by TV shopping and its inevitable countdown clock, in recent years this new retail urgency has been emphasized by both auction sites such as eBay and recession-driven bargain hunting which gave rise to the growth of flash sales. The recession may be over, but the desire for a bargain, it seems, is here to stay—even among luxury shoppers.

Gwen Morrison, CEO of the Americas and Australasia for retail marketing agency The Store, recently discussed this phenomenon at the Global Retail Forum.  Here, as part of the JWT Intelligence forum, she addresses how it relates to luxury.