"After three years of flagging sales in the United States, the women’s watch segment is again on the rise, in part due to a concerted effort by leading watch makers to focus attention and marketing dollars on the women’s market. Women’s watch sales grew 2%, year over year, between January and May 2018, rising to nearly 7 million units, according to global information provider The NPD Group."

According to AudienceSCAN, of the 13.9% of U.S. adults who make up Jewelry/​Watch Shoppers, 53.1% are women. Nearly 22% of this audience as a whole is between the ages of 25 and 34 and 38.3% live in metropolitan areas.

"Strong Valentine’s Day and Mothers’ Day holiday watch sales were primary contributors to the sales increase, with especially strong performance in January and April during the run-​up to those holidays. New models introduced in 2018 comprised about 7% of total women’s watch sales, with Rolex and Michael Kors leading the competition, in terms of sales of new models."

Nearly 49% of Jewelry/​Watch Shoppers are married, reports AudienceSCAN. Another 5.6% is single, but cohabitating with a significant other and 4.3% are in a domestic partnership or civil union.

"'While we have been tracking the growing trend of women buying men's sized watches for some time, sales of smaller watches for women also skyrocketed this year,' said Reginald Brack, luxury and watch industry analyst for NPD. 'Some brands with a traditionally male focus are now hiring female celebrities to be brand ambassadors in their advertising, with TAG Heuer going so far as to dub 2018 it’s ‘year of the woman.’ These and other efforts by watch makers are working to focus women’s attention on some traditionally male-​centered brands.'"

"Sales of watches priced under $300 declined 6% in January through May, 2018, just as Michael Kors, the leading brand within this price segment, fueled its investment in the smart-​watch category by pricing them at $350 and higher. Due in part to this strategic shift, the $300-to-$1,499 price segment garnered the majority of sales in the women’s watch category, growing 2% in January through May 2018. Much of this increase was due to the rising popularity of smart watches, as sales of traditional women’s watches declined nearly 4% in this price band."

"Sales of high-​end watches also bolstered the overall growth in the women’s watch category in January through May 2018. Women’s watches selling for $10,000 to $25,000 rose 17% over the previous year, while sales of watches selling for $25,000 and more grew 16 percent. 'Rolex and Patek Philippe drove most of the sales increase within the highest price segments,' Brack said. 'However, Audemars Piguet and Piaget also contributed to the women’s watch resurgence at the high end of the market.'"

Last year, according to AudienceSCAN, 70.2% of Jewelry/​Watch Shoppers took action after seeing a commercial on the medium where 49.5% of them get most of their local news: the TV. Direct mail ads/​coupons are another effective way to target this audience. About 67% of this audience took action after receiving an ad or coupon in the mail last year. Also, this audience is 42% more likely than other adults to take action after seeing a pre-​roll video ad.

AudienceSCAN data is available for your applications and dashboards through the SalesFuel API. Media companies and agencies can access AudienceSCAN data through the AudienceSCAN Reports in AdMall.