issue: June 2009 APPLIANCE Magazine Market Research Web Exclusive: Statistics: Luxury Purchase Trends	Share  Printable format  Email this Article  Search
The U.S. luxury marketplace in the last year saw decreased spending by all the luxury demographic segments – but some product categories actually saw significant increases in spending by affluent consumers.

This insight comes from Unity Marketing, which today published its annual report on the state of the luxury market: The Luxury Report 2009: the Ultimate Guide to the Luxury Consumer Market.

The report includes data about purchase behaviors and spending patterns of the
most affluent consumers, providing both a focus on historical shifts in the luxury consumer market and looking ahead at the future trajectory of consumer trends that will transform the luxury market in 2009 and beyond.

The report is a compilation of four tracking surveys. The surveys, of 1000-1250 affluent consumers who purchased luxuries in the study period, are conducted by Unity every three months. 4609 total consumers were surveyed in 2008 with an average income of about $200,000, representative of the 22 million affluent households in the U.S.

The report out the these "affluents" into three segments:
>comfortable affluents, with income of $100,000 to $149,900
>super affluents, with income of $150,000 to $249,900
>ultra-affluent consumers, with incomes of $250,000 and up

Table 1, below, shows the product categories that have seen increases in purchases by affluent consumers, as well as the products that have show big decreases.

Table 2 charts the overall spending decreases by the different affluent consumer segments.

Table 1

Source: Unity Marketing

Table 2

LUXURY SPENDING BY SEGMENT SUMMARY

The traditional biggest spenders in the luxury market – men, young affluents and ultra-affluents – cut their spending most in 2008.

Source: Unity Marketing