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Merrick, NY--Last week, The Centurion Newsletter addressed key luxury trends for 2015. This week, we examine some trend predictions of the past decade to identify the ones that proved themselves in the marketplace, which will help luxury jewelers narrow down consumer shifts that matter most for both short and long-term decision-making.

A decade ago, advertising agency J. Walter Thompson (renowned for doing the creative for De Beers’ generic diamond ads), began identifying global consumer trends and interpreting what they mean for brands. JWT’s annual 10 Trends reports highlight what its experts believe will be the most important consumer trends of each coming year. See two examples relating to luxury jewelers here and here.

But which of their predictions actually came to fruition? More importantly, which ones really matter to luxury jewelers?

This month, JWT looked back to see which of its predictions panned out over the past decade. These are the trends that really did—and still do—shape societal behaviors and attitudes. JWT also released its 2015 predictions of the top “Future 100” trends across a broad swath of categories, and these do include some key findings that will impact the luxury market: sharp growth of premium brands (as opposed to überluxury), the continued drive for personalization, and the increasing numbers of high-earning executive females who will be luxury shoppers.

Here are the most impactful trends of the past 10 years, and seven trends that will matter most to luxury retailers in 2015:

1. Everything Is Retail. (from 10 Trends for 2013): Anything and everything will be a retail channel as mobile connectivity unites the digital and physical worlds, and brands find ways to merge discovery and purchase opportunities.
2. Mobile Device as the Everything Hub (10 Trends for 2009): Mobile phones are truly an “everything hub” as more things get digitized or connected and as people take to the smaller screen to watch video, spend, shop, track their health, learn, play and more.
3. Buying the Experience (10 Trends for 2007): As the desire to “do” rather than “have” deepens, consumers are seeking ever more novel, shareable and amplified experiences.
4. Queen Trumps King (10 Trends for 2008): Women are moving ahead as gender dynamics change rapidly in the home, the workplace and culture, and as determination strengthens across genders to engineer greater equality.
5. Predictive Personalization (10 Trends for 2013): Big Data analysis, artificial intelligence and other new technologies are creating novel ways to anticipate and cater to individual needs.
6. Retooling for an Aging World (10 Trends for 2010): The full impact of the demographic shift from young to old has yet to be felt: Brands will need to do much more to adapt for older consumers—a cohort that’s rebranding aging altogether.
7. Cooperative Consumption (10 Trends for 2008): The sharing economy has grown up, while also giving rise to a backlash. Although this new business model is a serious threat to some brands, others are finding creative ways to tap into it.
8. Going Private in Public (10 Trends for 2013): With privacy increasingly elusive, people are struggling with how to maintain a vibrant digital identity.
9. De-teching (10 Trends for 2011): As people grapple with tech’s role in their lives, there’s a sense that the negative effects will outweigh the positive if we don’t find ways to use it more mindfully.
10. Food as the New Eco-Issue (10 Trends for 2012): “Sustainable” is becoming a new buzzword in food as today’s educated eater comes to better understand how food choices affect the environment and what consumers, brands and governments can do to drive positive change.

And here are the key trends for 2015 and beyond that will most likely impact luxury consumers:

1. Growth of “masstige” brands. Premium brands like Michael Kors, Tory Burch, and Coach are poised for growth, especially finding a new foothold in Asia. The recession hit the U.S. entry luxury shopper hard, but affluent consumers who traded down from ultra-luxury to premium brands often found those brands to be quite satisfactory and have been slow to return to the higher-priced products. Now the entry luxury shopper has returned, and Chinese consumers in particular are just discovering these brands to their liking. 
2. Women buying luxury for themselves. Women are an increasingly dominant economic force. All retail sectors—but luxury brands, retailers, and male-dominated categories in particular—will have to adapt their tactics to reach the rising female audience of sophisticated, affluent women. The Boston Consulting Group projects that women will control 75% of discretionary spending around the world by 2028. Nielsen estimates that by then, women will collectively out-earn men in the United States. A Wells Fargo survey on female investors shows 82% of women surveyed manage their household's daily finances. Female self-purchase has been a growing market in jewelry, but watch for higher price point sales to become more routine in this category.
3. Digital revolution comes to luxury, at last. It’s been well documented by L2ThinkTank and other organizations that the luxury market is very slow in adapting to digital commerce. That will change, says JWT—the online world is “the next China” for luxury brands, according to its report.
4. Amazon vs. Macy’s: The next evolution of the “Everything Is Retail” trend is clicks to bricks, as e-commerce companies open physical locations. This has been happening on a smaller scale for some time, but now online behemoth Amazon.com just signed a lease for 470,000 square feet near Herald Square in New York City. It’s further proof that consumers still value the shopping experience as well as the stuff.
5. Artisan appeal: Consumers are increasingly seeking niche, indie brands with artisan cred. Etsy’s robust jewelry offering is one example; now even mass brands want in, and are launching divisions such as “craft cola” (Pepsico) or Starbucks Reserve Roastery and Tasting Room.
6. The experience economy: Consumers across the board are starting to prioritize experiences—travel, food, exploration, etc.—over simply acquiring “stuff.” Smart brands need to connect their products to such experiences.
7. “Me” brands: Jewelers with a strong bridal business already know how important personalization is. Whether it’s truly custom design or just enough tweaks to feel unique, Millennials in particular want products designed just for them. Local brands also resonate, even if it’s not a fully individualized product.

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