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Exclusive Centurion Survey: Valentine’s Day Sales Rocket Up For Prestige Jewelers | February 18, 2015 (0 comments)
Merrick, NY—According to a Centurion spot-check survey of top prestige jewelers, almost half (44.12%) posted sales gains of 10% or more for Valentine’s Day 2015 over 2014. In total, two-thirds of respondents said Valentine sales increased this year over last year. 11.76% said sales increased between 6% and 10%, and 8.82% saw slight increases between 1% and 5% over last year’s figures.
In total, about 22% of respondents said Valentine sales decreased this year; of those, most were slight decreases between 1% and 5%, and many of those were because of the weather, especially in the beleaguered Northeast where snow is falling in feet, not inches. Bitter cold and wind also deterred shoppers if the snow didn’t. Other respondents cited local economic factors, such as oil industry layoffs. About 12% said sales stayed even with last year.
But overall, luxury customers were feeling pretty good—and pretty flush, according to our respondents. 50% of respondents reported their average ticket was higher than last year; 44% said it was even with last year but only 6% saw a decline in their average ticket.
“People have been commenting that they hadn't bought jewelry in a while, and the economy seemed better so they ‘were ready’ to buy,” said one respondent. The jeweler also ran a promotion with WOW cards, touted by David Geller. She said she was initially skeptical, but the results “blew us all away.”
“We issued 250 cards to our best customers valued at $50-$250, with no strings attached. They couldn't use them on repairs, but they could redeem the card for face value. All but one person spent many times what the card was worth. One customer had a $50 card, and bought a ring that was $3750. He went to pay, and said, ‘great! Now the ring is only $3700!’ He was genuinely excited! We were very happy with the promotion, and will do it again for sure.”
The holiday falling on a Saturday both helped and hurt, according to respondents. Overall, most felt it helped—the predominantly male shoppers were able to come in literally at the last minute and still have a gift ready for that evening, but a few jewelers said it is better when the holiday falls mid-week and shoppers have the entire weekend before to buy.
Even for luxury jewelers, and even with the average ticket bumping up, Valentine’s Day remains a lower-priced holiday than Christmas. “Under $500” was the best-selling price point for a slim majority (36%) of Centurion respondents; followed closely by best-selling price points between $500 and $1,000 for 30.5% of respondents.
13.8% reported their strongest selling prices were between $1,000 and $3,000. 16% did well with higher-ticket goods starting at $3,000, $5,000 and even for a few lucky retailers, well into five digits.
Diamonds remain the top seller for Valentine’s Day, ranging from small pieces to “wow” sized super-stones. More than one-fourth of respondents cited this category as their best-selling product for the holiday, including both engagement rings (10%) and all other diamond jewelry (16%).
The second-strongest selling category for respondents was sterling silver, followed by colored gemstones. Popular brands cited include Pandora, Rolex, John Hardy, Alex & Ani, Sidney Evan, Konstantino, David Yurman, and Gurhan.
Not surprisingly, jewelry with a heart motif or a “love” theme also was popular.