Wealthiest U.S. Women Find Jewelry and Relationships at Tiffany, David Yurman and Cartier; Ralph Lauren and Brooks Brothers Suit Pentamillionaire Men

NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwired - Jun 27, 2013) - The Luxury Institute surveyed ultra-wealthy U.S. consumers with minimum net worth of $5 million about luxury brands they buy and the relationships they have with luxury sales professionals.

Tiffany & Co. is the jewelry brand most widely purchased by ultra-wealthy women, followed by David Yurman and Cartier. These three leaders in market share are also the top three jewelers where ultra-wealthy women have a preferred salesperson.

In the women's fashion and accessories category Michael Kors holds a commanding 36% market share, followed distantly by Prada, Burberry, Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Gucci and Marc Jacobs. These top seven brands vary widely in their ability to build relationships with ultra-wealthy women, with Marc Jacobs falling behind the rest while Prada leads the pack.

Among pentamillionaire men, Ralph Lauren and Brooks Brothers hold the largest market share in the men's fashion and accessories category. Overall, ultra-wealthy men are less likely than women to build relationships with salespeople.

Pentamillionaire men and women both agree that the top ways salespeople build lasting relationships are by making them feel comfortable, communicating honestly, earning their trust and recognizing them on store visits. More than half of ultra-wealthy women who purchase from both jewelry and fashion brands say they appreciate handwritten thank you notes.

"Relationship selling is not something exclusive to markets like high-end automobiles, real estate and wealth management services," says Luxury Institute CEO Milton Pedraza. "Even in luxury jewelry and fashion, relationships cultivated by trust and an understanding of customer preferences can help boost both the frequency and size of sales."

About Luxury Institute (www.LuxuryInstitute.com)
The Luxury Institute is the objective and independent global voice of the high net-worth consumer. The Institute conducts extensive and actionable research with wealthy consumers about their behaviors and attitudes on customer experience best practices. In addition, we work closely with top-tier luxury brands to successfully transform their organizational cultures into more profitable customer-centric enterprises. Our Luxury CRM Culture consulting process leverages our fact-based research and enables luxury brands to dramatically Outbehave as well as Outperform their competition. The Luxury Institute also operates LuxuryBoard.com, a membership-based online research portal, and the Luxury CRM Association, a membership organization dedicated to building customer-centric luxury enterprises.