In the face of a rapidly shifting retail landscape, the luxury brands sector continued to climb to new starry heights in the past few years. The latest Nielsen survey on designer brands reveals that consumers remain enraptured by the allure of luxury, and there are generous payoffs for designer brands that dare to diversify.

Nielsen’s global designer brands survey, the largest of its kind, gauges the current and aspirational purchasing habits of online consumers across the globe. This year’s survey reveals that one sixth (16%) of the world’s consumers claim to buy designer brands, while one-third (31%) claim to know a designer label buyer.

“In the last few years, the luxury sector has really opened up. We have seen many design houses beginning to diversify their offerings to ensure they are catering for consumers of all ages – from babywear to pet accessories! It’s not unusual for designer brands to offer two or three diffusion lines to cater for different consumer segments as well as expanding into accessories, luggage, jewellery, homewares and interiors and even the technology sector with branded mobile phones - and consumers are responding positively,” remarked Karen Watson, Chief Communications Officer, The Nielsen Company.

The world’s biggest luxury shoppers

The world’s biggest designer fans hail from Greece, where almost half of consumers (46%) claim to buy designer brands themselves, and almost three-quarters (73%) claim to know a label-chaser. The Greeks have proven to be voracious apparel consumers.

According to Nielsen’s latest Consumer Confidence survey, two-fifths (42%) of Greek consumers spend their spare cash on new clothes, and almost half (47%) spend it paying off their well-worn credit cards! Another Nielsen consumer brands survey that is conducted in Greece twice a year revealed that 55 percent of Greeks claim the presence of branded products is the key driver for store selection.

Nearly one in two Greeks (51%) buy new clothes once a month with 47% saying they buy apparel whenever they see something they like. ...

Download Consumers and Designer Brands: A Global Nielsen Report

PDF format, 525KB, 14Pages.

INSIDE:

Consumers lap up
luxury brands
Global consensus that
luxury is overpriced
One in two consumers believe the
purpose of luxury goods is to
project social status
Imitation designer wares fail to impress
American brands most popular
among world’s consumers
But if we won the lottery, it’d be Gucci all the way
What’s on the Horizon for Designer Brands?

About The Nielsen Global Online Survey

The Nielsen Global Online Survey is the largest half-yearly survey of its kind, aimed at gauging current confidence levels, spending habits/intentions and current major concerns of consumers across the globe. The latest survey, conducted in November 2007, polled 26,312 internet users in 48 markets from Europe, Asia Pacific, the Americas and the Middle East.

About The Nielsen Company

The Nielsen Company is a global information and media company with leading market positions in marketing information (ACNielsen), media information (Nielsen Media Research), online intelligence (NetRatings and BuzzMetrics), mobile measurement (Nielsen Mobile), trade shows and business publications (Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter, Adweek).

The privately held company is active in more than 100 countries, with headquarters in Haarlem, the Netherlands, and New York, USA.

For more information, please visit, www.nielsen.com

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