U.S. Jewelry Sales Creep Upward in January

Specialty jewelers in the U.S. market posted a very modest sales gain in January – +1.9 percent over the same month a year ago – according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. Total jewelry sales – sales of jewelry in all retail outlets which sell this merchandise category – were up 1.6 percent in January. Thus, while jewelry demand was weak during the month, specialty jewelers gained market share from non-traditional jewelry outlets such as discounters and others.

Further, as expected, the Department of Commerce revised December 2007 jewelry sales levels downward, though not by as much as we would have expected. Based on the newly revised data, December 2007 specialty jewelers’ sales in the U.S. market fell by 2.8 percent; preliminary data had indicated a decline of 2.6 percent.

Total U.S. jewelry sales data was modestly revised for 2007; it now appears that jewelry sales in America were up 4.2 percent in 2007, down slightly from the previously reported gain of 4.3 percent. The Commerce Department will continue to recalculate this number each month until about mid-year; we do not expect any significant change from current levels.

The Commerce Department also scaled back the previously reported preliminary retail sales gains (all categories) for the final quarter of the year (see Scoreboard below).

For the three months ended January 2008, the scoreboard for specialty jewelers’ sales, total jewelry industry sales, and total retail sales is summarized on the following table. The figures show that specialty jewelers gained market share in November and January from non-traditional jewelry retail outlets (discounters, mass market retailers, department stores, etc.), but lost market share in December. Further, jewelers lost market share to other retail categories which offered more enticing merchandise and more compelling values – particularly consumer electronics – at prices that are directly targeted to jewelers’ “sweet spot” pricing at the mass market level – $300-500.
Source: idexonline