More women than ever before are buying jewelry for themselves and not waiting for their boyfriends or husbands to do so. That's because today they are more financially independent than in the past. They believe in their own taste, and they want to have solid proof of their earning ability and success.
What does this mean for diamond and jewelry manufacturers and retailers? Differentiate your brands and products for the different ages and types of women looking for jewelry at specific points in their lives.
“Today, women are independent," said one well-known jeweler. "The contemporary woman doesn’t need to wait for her boyfriend or her husband to buy her a jewelry piece.”
The rise in self-purchasing women has coincided with historic numbers of financially independent females. They have more disposable cash than ever before. They are extremely proud of their independence and want solid of that evidence for their own self-satisfaction.
Verdura CEO Ward Landrigan has been in the jewelry trade for half a century. He remembers that in the past whenever women wanted to treat themselves to jewelry, they would lie about buying the gems themselves. “The reason was that they were embarrassed that a man was not buying it for them,” he said. “Women are going to make better purchases for themselves than men,” says Landrigan. “You wouldn’t send your boyfriend or husband out to buy you a dress.”
“Women used to basically get what they were given. The guy shopped alone and she accepted it. Now it’s completely flipped. The woman comes in alone. She already knows what she wants,” said one jeweler.
The traditional structure of households in North America, Europe and Asia has changed in the two generations. In most families today, both the mother and father work. Fewer than 10% of American families live on only a single income. Furthermore, 95% of the decisions made in connection to shopping in the US are, according to surveys, made by women who do 85% of the shopping.
Precise figures are not available regarding the size of the female self-purchase market, evidence in the streets and malls indicate it is an increasingly important segment of the market.
Around a quarter of self-purchasing women in the US buy jewelry containing colored gemstones or cultured pearls at least once during a typical year, while many women purchase the jewelry for the sake of fashion.
Half of self-purchasing women will buy a piece of jewelry simply because they like it. Self-buying women look for fashion jewelry in earrings and pendants.
And jewelry retailers are responding to the power of women in luxury purchase decisions by offering wish list systems in order to clarify the preference of each woman in the case of an engagement, for example.
“It’s sort of as if a bride is registering for a wedding,” said one jeweler. “Frequently the woman will come in first, and we write down what she likes so the gentleman knows exactly what to look for.”