As of 29 July, the new edition of Personal Accessories is available in Euromonitor's market research database, Passport. The new data set carries an increased number of categories, measures and brands. It also highlights several intriguing developments in the industry, some of which are discussed below.
Growth stories for 2013
Owing largely to the EuroZone crisis, value growth for personal accessories is likely to slow marginally from 9% in 2011/2012 to 8% in 2012/2013. The annual growth rates for watches and writing instruments are expected to trail that for bags and jewellery as the former still rely heavily on the low-growth regions of Western Europe and North America.
It is noteworthy that despite macro-economic concerns, consumers are not shying away from purchasing high-priced items in 2013. Real jewellery, luggage and high quartz analogue watches are all among the fastest growing as well as the most expensive categories in 2013.
Little movement in overall leadership
Although traditional leaders LVMH, Richemont and Swatch Group led global value sales in 2012, Prada SpA was the star performer over the calendar year. The top 10 companies by retail sales in 2012 were largely unchanged from 2011, with only jewellery player Shanghai Lao Feng Xiang replacing Samsonite in 10th position. In terms of writing instruments, global players such as Faber-Castell, Hallmark Cards and Staedtler all suffered declining sales in 2012.
Changes in channel strategy
Department stores rather than internet retailing was the fastest growing retail channel for personal accessories over 2008-2013. The rising popularity of shop-in-shop formats among manufacturers, coupled with a wider range of non-grocery items, has made department stores particularly successful in emerging markets. Although the rise of department stores has been the steepest in jewellery, the channel is also seeing increased acceptance when it comes to watches and bags.
Over the forecast period internet retailing is likely to challenge the growth of accessories through grocery retailers and mixed retailers. An increasing number of luxury and non-luxury players are investing in self-operated internet retailing portals as well as virtual try-on services, while also registering encouraging double-digit growth in online sales.
Note: Review period refers to 2008-2013, forecast period refers to 2013-2018.