Bain & Company forecast sales declines for luxury jewelry, watches
Rapaport Diamond Report 10/21/2009
by Jeff Miller
Luxury goods sales are expected to decline only 8 percent to $229 billion (EUR 153 billion) in 2009 as revenue generated from China and websites softens the blow from mature markets, according to the eighth edition of Bain & Company's "Luxury Goods Worldwide Market" study. The luxury category for jewelry, watches and other hard luxury items will be hit the hardest in 2009, with the firm forecasting an 18 percent decline in the sale of these items.
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Bain sees tepid recovery in global luxury sales in 2010
AsiaOne 10/21/2009
The global market for luxury goods will shrink by 8 percent this year, according to Bain & Company, and grow just 1 percent next year, but the impact of the global recession has not been as severe as expected six months ago and currency appreciation has boosted Asian purchasing power. The US consulting company said the first signs of a market recovery would emerge by the end of this year, forecasting fourth-quarter sales to drop just 1 percent from a year earlier. However, it said the market would grow only 1 percent in 2010 and not fully recover until 2011, when Bain expects a 4.2 percent increase in global sales.
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Luxury sales in China to rise 12 pct in 2009: study
Agence France Presse 10/21/2009
Sales of luxury goods in China are forecast to rise 12 percent this year, global consulting firm Bain & Company said Wednesday, bucking the downward trend seen in other major markets hit hard by the financial crisis. Global sales of high-end products are expected to drop eight percent overall in 2009 to 153 billion euros (229 billion dollars). However, China will experience the opposite trend, the firm said, with research showing that 15 percent of an estimated 300 luxury store openings worldwide this year took place in the Asian giant. "Aspirational luxury shoppers in Asia and other emerging markets are fuelling sales growth in 2009," Claudia D'Arpizio, a Milan-based partner at Bain, was quoted as saying in the study.
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10 global luxury trends for the coming decade
Just-Style 10/21/2009
The luxury market has been down, but it's definitely not out - with dramatic shifts set to come in the decade ahead. Launching the eighth edition of its annual 'Luxury Goods Worldwide Market' study earlier this week, consultancy Bain & Company unveiled its prediction of 10 global luxury trends for the coming decade starting in 2010.
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American Express profit may climb on 'high-net-worth' spenders
Bloomberg 10/21/2009
by Peter Eichenbaum
American Express Company, the biggest U.S. credit-card issuer by purchases, may post its highest profit in a year amid declining defaults and signs that wealthy consumers boosted spending in the third quarter. Affluent U.S. customers, a market AmEx dominates, drove a 29-percent surge in purchases of luxury goods and services in the third quarter. A Bain & Company study presented Oct. 19 at a conference in Milan showed sales of luxury products may climb next year for the first time since 2007.
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