IDEX Online Research: Jewelry Sales Eclipses Most Other Retail Categories
December 25, 11(IDEX Online News) – Jewelry sales have been one of the strongest merchandise categories for specialty retailers in the American market, based on retail sales trends for the first nine months of 2011.
For the first three quarter of 2011,
Jewelry sales are up largely due to higher commodity prices – diamonds and precious metals – that have been passed along to shoppers. Of the 13.5 percent gain in jewelry sales for the first nine months of 2011 versus the same nine-month period in 2010, just over 10 percent of the increase is related to higher commodity prices while about 3 percent of the increase is due to greater unit sales.
The table below illustrates sales trends in the American market for the first nine months of 2011 versus the same period a year ago. This data is only for sales by specialty retailers in the categories shown.
Source: US Dept of Commerce |
Other Highlights
· Total retail sales for the first three quarters of 2011 are up a robust 8.1 percent, despite an uncertain economy, stubbornly high unemployment, and an anemic housing market.
· The double-digit rise in jewelry sales eclipses the gain in total retail sales, so jewelers are gaining market share or “share of wallet.”
· Department stores continue to lose relevancy in today’s marketplace.
· While unit sales of consumer electronics – including computers – remains robust, sales as measured by “dollars through the cash register” are about flat due to deflationary pricing of underlying commodities used in the manufacturing of electronics.
· Non-store retailers – mostly online merchants – have shown a solid 13 percent sales gain in 2011. That’s no surprise since online retail trends have been strong. Online sales represent about 4.6 percent of total retail sales for all merchandise categories; for jewelers, online sales are about 6 percent of total industry sales due to a high online sales mix of big-ticket diamonds.
· Total jewelry industry sales – at all merchants including specialty jewelers, mass market retailers, discounters, online merchants, and others – were up about 12 percent for the first nine months of 2011, compared to the same period a year ago.