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Luxury Spending Up in 2005
In 2005 the typical luxury consumer spent $52,588 buying luxuries, up 3.8 percent over the average amount spent in 2004 of $50,640, according to Unity Marketing.
Aggregate results from 25 leading global luxury marketers show an average revenue growth of 10.9 percent for the year 2005.. Growth for 2004 was higher at 14.5 percent. Overall the luxury market in the United States reached $1 trillion in 2005 (up 12 percent from 2004,) a figure that includes jewelry.
In 2005 the dominant trend in the luxury market was a shift in spending more – significantly more – on experiential luxuries; in other words, the things people do rather than material goods one has or one owns. The typical luxury consumer spent $22,746 on experiences in 2005, that is nearly double what they spent in 2004. Luxury consumers also spent nearly 20 percent more buying luxury automobiles, a highly experiential luxury good.
While spending on experiences and automobiles went up, luxury consumers spent less overall on home luxuries, down 4.6 percent to $19,990. Spending on personal luxuries like luxury apparel, fashion accessories, jewelry and watches, wine and spirits, pet luxuries and pens and desk accessories, rose 5.6 percent to $10,007 in 2005. A moderating factor in the growth of personal luxuries is that the super-affluent households (incomes $150,000 and above) didn’t hold up their high 2004 spending levels, while spending on personal luxuries among the near-affluent ($75,000 to $99,999) and the affluent ($100,000 to $149,999) increased at a significant rate.
