IDEX Online Research: 2005 Holiday Season Sales Up Solidly
February 15, 06 by Ken Gassman
The all-important 2005 holiday selling season ended on a high note for U.S. jewelers. Final figures reported by the U.S. Department of Commerce show that jewelry sales for the November-December period were up 3.8 percent. This was in line with forecasts.
Momentum built as the season progressed: October jewelry sales were up 2.0 percent; November jewelry sales rose by 2.5 percent, and December jewelry sales surged by a strong 4.3 percent, as the graph below illustrates.
| U.S. Jewelry Sales Trends
2005 By Month - % Change Year-to-Year
Source: U.S. Dept of Commerce |
These jewelry sales trends were in line with reports from individual jewelers who noted that December sales were stronger than November. For example, Tiffany & Co. reported that U.S. same-store sales in November were up 4 percent, while U.S. same-store sales advanced by a more robust 7 percent in December.
| U.S. Jewelry Sales 2005 | December | +4.3% | | Holiday (Nov/Dec) | +3.8% | | Fourth Quarter | +3.5% | | Full Year | +2.5% | |
For the 12 months ended December 2005, U.S. jewelry sales were up 2.5 percent. This was stronger than expected. For example, jewelry sales in the 10-month January-to-October period were up only 1.9 percent. However, a late season surge in jewelry demand during the months of November and December, which represented 33 percent of 2005’s total jewelry sales, was enough to lift the jewelry industry’s full year performance to +2.5 percent.
Despite a strong finish to the year, the U.S. jewelry industry lost share-of-wallet in 2005. Total retail sales (excluding auto and food) were up a strong 8.4 percent for the full 12 months, a gain which was more than triple the +2.5 percent increase of the jewelry industry. Holiday retail sales were up a solid 7.8 percent in 2005.
IDEX Online Research is preparing a full report on 2005 jewelry sales, with a special focus on the holiday selling period. In addition, our 2006 sales forecast will be published shortly.
