IDEX Online Research: US Jewelry Sales Up 5% In August
October 22, 14
(IDEX Online News) – Preliminary August data shows that U.S. jewelry sales rose by 4.9 percent over the same month in 2013 to $5.6 billion, following a similar gain for the month in July of 5.0 percent. If this trend continues, U.S. sales of fine jewelry and watches could reach a record $81 billion in 2014, up from the prior year’s $77 billion, a gain of 5 percent.
The full analysis of the jewelry sales data is available to IDEX Online Research subscribers and IDEX Online members here.
After a slow start in 2014, sales of fine jewelry and fine watches in the U.S. market have shown solid gains since May.
Specialty jewelers’ sales have been on a roller coaster this year, with solid gains in February (Valentine’s Day) and in May (Mother’s Day).
However, since their sales gains are smaller than overall industry sales growth, we expect specialty jewelers to give up market share to multi-line merchants such as Wal-Mart, JC Penney, Costco, who also sell jewelry.
Jewelry and watch sales in August came in considerably higher than overall retail sales.
There was a slight bias in August to buying jewelry goods at stores selling a wide variety of items rather than specialty jewelry stores. However, the difference was not large.
Fine watch sales have kept their proportion in the broader jewelry and fine watch sales category at around 12 percent.
Outlook
The 2014 holiday sales outlook is for a rise of 4 to 5 percent, which would be close to double last year’s rise of 2.9 percent. American consumers are being aided by lower gasoline prices which are around the $3.30 per gallon mark. Less spending at gas stations is a boost for U.S. households, with economists at Deutsche Bank estimating that American consumers could receive an extra $40 billion in cash if prices hold steady at $3.30 per gallon.
In addition, the economy continues to recover, and unemployment is falling. Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve published a report showing that output at the nation's factories, mines and utilities advanced a larger-than-expected 1.0 percent in September, the biggest gain since November 2012.
The renewed optimism regarding the state of the American economy has led to forecasts suggesting a rise of more than 4 percent in sales in the upcoming holiday season.
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