IDEX Online Research: Challenges & Opportunities - Anniversary Jewelry Offers Dramatic Sales Potential
March 06, 08
Wedding anniversaries are an important occasion for jewelers, though far too many merchants do not take advantage of this sales opportunity. Just over one-fifth of all non-bridal diamond jewelry is given as an anniversary gift. With the projected increase in the number of weddings, coupled with a modestly declining divorce rate, the number of wedding anniversaries in the U.S. should rise significantly over the next decade. Jewelers who do not maintain a customer database to target customers with upcoming wedding anniversaries are missing out on a large chunk of potential business.
Source: JWT
The average ticket for diamond jewelry purchased to commemorate a wedding anniversary was about $1,200 in 2006, the highest average ticket for all non-bridal diamond occasions, as the table below illustrates.
Source: DPS
Unfortunately, jewelers are missing the anniversary jewelry opportunity. Based on research by the Diamond Promotion Service, about 25 percent of married women want anniversary diamond jewelry, but only about 15 percent actually received diamond jewelry for their anniversary.
Source: JWT
Most Anniversary Jewelry Purchased Soon After Marriage
A significant portion of anniversary diamond jewelry is purchased soon after marriage – in years 1-to-7, according to the Diamond Promotion Service. Only one in five men said that the store where they bought their engagement and wedding rings also offered an incentive to return to purchase anniversary jewelry. Jewelers have the wedding date in their database; far too often, they fail to consult this database to remind the groom that it is time for anniversary jewelry.
More than 4-in-5 couples reach their fifth wedding anniversary without separating, and about two-thirds of all couples successfully reach their tenth wedding anniversary. The table below illustrates the percentage of married people reaching significant wedding anniversaries.
Source: Divorce Magazine
While the “honeymoon” years are a good time for jewelers to target potential customers for anniversary jewelry, couples who have been married for a long time are also a potential large market. The graph below illustrates sales of anniversary jewelry by length of marriage.
Source: JWT
Anniversary Jewelry Sales Not Seasonal
Like bridal jewelry, anniversary jewelry sales are not particularly seasonal. The following graph illustrates sales by month of anniversary diamond jewelry. The percentage show represents the monthly portion of total year sales.
Source: JWT
Anniversary jewelry purchases by month follow the seasonal pattern of weddings, with some minor fluctuations later in the year. The following graph compares weddings by month to anniversary jewelry purchases by month.
Source: National Center for Health Statistics
Independents & Small Chains Sell Most Anniversary Jewelry
The largest portion – by value – of anniversary jewelry is sold by independent jewelers and small chains, as the graph below illustrates.
Source: JWT
Diamond Rings Are Most Popular Anniversary Jewelry
Diamond rings are by far the most popular piece of anniversary jewelry: about 57 percent of all diamond anniversary jewelry is a diamond ring. The average ticket for a diamond anniversary ring is $1,685 versus the average of $1,207 for all anniversary diamond jewelry.
 Source: JWT |
This article is part of a series that expand on the points IDEX Online’s director of online research, Ken Gassman has raised in his analysis “State of the Jewelry Industry.”
Ken is available to speak to corporate management groups and others about the State of the Jewelry Industry. He has developed a PowerPoint presentation which can be customized to your group. For further information, please email Ken at research[at]idexonline[dot]com.