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Jewelry Performs Better Than Other Retail During Tough Times, Says Signet CEO December 23, 2022 (0 comments)
Hamilton, Bermuda--The jewelry category remains unfazed by 2023's mild recession, says Gina Drosos, CEO of Signet Jewelers.
[Image via Yahoo Finance]
"You know, jewelry is not immune to macroeconomic pressure, but I would say it's very different from most of the rest of retail," Drosos told Yahoo Finance Live. "Jewelry inherently holds its value, and customers know that. So they know that if they buy a nice piece of jewelry, it will be worth at least the same, if not appreciated, a year later. So we see in tough times, even including recession, jewelry actually does much better than the rest of retail."
Drosos' brand has testified to this, as its revenues went up 2.9% year over year — one of the reasons behind increased sales is the company leading in the digital commerce category.
"It's a category that traditionally was very brick-and-mortar based," Drosos explained. "People only went into a store so they could be consulted or try on the product. Now we're actually selling a lot of jewelry online, but [it's] mostly browsing. 67% of our customers go online before they come into the store."
Amid changing consumer trends, Drosos highlighted that demand for lower-priced items might also change.
"Last year was a big year for lower-priced jewelry," Drosos revealed. "Stimulus was in the market, people really spending on themselves, which was great to see. Self-purchase tends to be a lower-priced purchase than bridal or romantic gifting, so we saw a big increase last year. That's been offset this year somewhat."
Learn more about the brand's strategy in the entire report.