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RAPAPORT... Online jewelry sales in the United States fell 10 percent during the second quarter of 2008, according to online metrix specialist comScore Inc.
Total online retail sales (excluding travel) rose 13 percent to $31 billion during the three months ending June 30, 2008. The strongest monthly growth for the year, so far, was in April at 15 percent. Online retail sales in May grew 12 percent and in June by 11 percent despite government stimulus checks which were expected to boost consumer spending.
“With the first round of the government’s economic stimulus checks having been mailed in early May, one would have hoped they would have bolstered online spending in May and June,” said comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni. “However, recent comScore research reveals that fully two thirds of consumers said they had not planned to spend their stimulus checks and rather intended to use the cash to pay off debt or put the money into savings.”
Fulgoni added that the impact of the stimulus may have been felt more offline, “where a variety of merchants made it particularly easy for consumers to cash their checks at retail stores.”
The biggest growth in online spending during the quarter came in the video games, consoles and accessories categories, where sales grew 73 percent, while furniture, appliance and equipment sales rose 65 percent. Home and garden, event tickets, sport and fitness, consumer electronics, and apparel and accessories categories all registered sales growth.
In addition to jewelry and watches, categories which saw sales decline included flowers, greeting and miscellaneous gifts, computers, peripherals and personal digital assistants, toys and hobbies, and music, movies and videos.
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1. This is never good news, but....
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I think the main reason people aren't buying as much jewelry online is that it's nowhere near as easy as it should be. At Mervis, we're trying to make the online diamond market more accessible.
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By:
Ted from Mervis Diamond Importers
,
8/12/2008
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