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New York, NY—L2 ThinkTank has released its 2013 annual report detailing the digital marketing effectiveness of specialty retailers. Only four jewelers—Tiffany, Kay, Cartier, and Zales—made the cut, and of those four, only Tiffany, in 15^th place, was ranked “gifted” on a scale that ranges from genius down through gifted, average, challenged, and feeble.

Kay Jewelers, at number 44, was ranked “average;” in 55^th place, Cartier was judged “challenged,” as was 60^th-ranked Zales.

Beauty behemoth Sephora took first place, the only retailer whose digital IQ was considered “genius” by L2’s researchers. Rounding out the top 10, in descending order, were American Eagle Outfitters, Victoria’s Secret, Pottery Barn, Williams-Sonoma, Crate & Barrel, Coach, Urban Outfitters, West Elm, and White House/Black Market.

In creating the rankings, 40% of the score was determined by effectiveness of the brand’s site and e-commerce operations. 30% of the score came from the brand’s digital marketing efforts, including search, display, and email; 20% came from its mobile capabilities, including compatibility, optimization, and marketing on smartphones and tablets; and the remaining 10% was determined by the brand’s social media, including the brand’s presence, community size, content, and engagement.

E-commerce accounts for about 8% of total retail spending ($262 billion) but the Internet influences more than four times that much—a whopping $1.3 trillion in sales.

Some key findings:

• Despite the proliferation of new digital tactics and tools, email marketing remains a very effective call-to-action marketing vehicle for specialty retailers, with two-thirds of respondents ranking its ROI as “excellent” or “good,” and with an average of 8.7% of web traffic coming from email.
• In terms of social media, Pinterest and Instagram join Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter as “must be there” platforms. Tumblr and Google+ have much smaller penetration and less fresh content. Foursquare seems to have lost its relevance.
• Despite jewelers’ small showing on the L2 Digital IQ index overall, jewelry is the number-one category when it comes to traffic generated by social media platforms. Facebook is by far and away the top site for jewelers; as the chart below shows, 76% of social media referral traffic to jewelry stores came from Facebook. Though distant, YouTube comes in second and drives 9% of social media referral traffic to luxury jewelers, while Pinterest at 5% has overtaken Twitter, with 1%.

L2ThinkTank's latest survey of specialty retailers shows jewelry and watches was the number-one category in terms of receiving referral traffic through social media. Chart source: L2ThinkTank

• In terms of mobile, though almost half (48%) the time consumers spend at retail sites online is via a mobile device, only two brands, H&M and White House/Black Market, have optimized their sites for tablet use. 77% of Index retailers have mobile sites, but the majority (86%) still redirect tablet users to their regular website, and fewer than two-thirds have cart continuity across multiple devices. In other words, a shopper who begins on her mobile phone may elect to pause and resume shopping on her desktop later—but more often than not, can’t return to her saved cart.

To watch a video detailing L2’s findings, click here.