Germans are buying more wristwatches again, focusing on value and quality in particular. After years of stagnation, the positive trend has returned to the watch market in 2011. According to Retail and Technology, unit sales of wristwatches in Germany for the first nine months of 2011 increased 7% year-on-year, and value sales in fact registered an almost 10% increase over the same period.
Specialist retailers continue to be the first place to go for purchasing watches, especially when a more expensive model is being sought. Here the average amount German customers spent on a watch in the third quarter of 2011 was in the region of EUR 280. In contrast, lower priced watches were purchased in non-specialist retailers, such as department stores and warehouses, where Germans paid an average EUR 69 for a new wristwatch.
Ceramic watch straps increasingly popular
Consumers like to buy watches with colorful straps made of silicone. But watches with ceramic straps are becoming more and more popular. In the EUR 100 to EUR 500 price category, the share of such watches sold by jew-elers and watch specialists noticeably rose from 2% to 5%. The findings suggest that lifestyle brands in the lower to middle price segment can have higher prices for ceramic watches than with other models. Customers rec-ognize ceramic as a scratch-resistant material which has a unique shine and are therefore more willing to accept higher prices than they do for wrist-watches with leather or metal straps. This is undoubtedly also influenced by the fact that ceramic was primarily used for luxury watches in the past.
The method
As part of its retail panel, GfK Retail and Technology regularly collects data on the sales of wristwatches from jewelers, watch specialist retailers and generalist in five different European countries, Germany, France, the UK, Italy and the Netherlands.
Specialist retailers continue to be the first place to go for purchasing watches, especially when a more expensive model is being sought. Here the average amount German customers spent on a watch in the third quarter of 2011 was in the region of EUR 280. In contrast, lower priced watches were purchased in non-specialist retailers, such as department stores and warehouses, where Germans paid an average EUR 69 for a new wristwatch.
Ceramic watch straps increasingly popular
Consumers like to buy watches with colorful straps made of silicone. But watches with ceramic straps are becoming more and more popular. In the EUR 100 to EUR 500 price category, the share of such watches sold by jew-elers and watch specialists noticeably rose from 2% to 5%. The findings suggest that lifestyle brands in the lower to middle price segment can have higher prices for ceramic watches than with other models. Customers rec-ognize ceramic as a scratch-resistant material which has a unique shine and are therefore more willing to accept higher prices than they do for wrist-watches with leather or metal straps. This is undoubtedly also influenced by the fact that ceramic was primarily used for luxury watches in the past.
The method
As part of its retail panel, GfK Retail and Technology regularly collects data on the sales of wristwatches from jewelers, watch specialist retailers and generalist in five different European countries, Germany, France, the UK, Italy and the Netherlands.
