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Jewelers Focus on Digital at Inhorgenta
Feb 20, 2018 9:26 AM
By David Brough
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RAPAPORT... The digital transformation of the jewelry business
was a major theme at Inhorgenta Munich, with jewelers speaking of the need to
adapt to increased online retail sales.
“One of the key challenges
faced by the industry is to win younger target groups without losing the
regular clientele,” said Gesa Michahelles, managing director for the Germany,
Austria and Switzerland region at designer brand Georg Jensen. “This can be
achieved by a clever combination of offline and online offers.”
At the February 16 to 19 show, German jewelers privately voiced concerns that major
digital retailers such as Amazon could erode their turnover, and said they
would need to upgrade their online retail presence to survive in a
fast-changing market.
Demand for diamond jewelry is expected to
remain fairly stable in Germany in 2018, Stephan Lindner, president of Germany’s Federal Association of Jewellers, told Rapaport News. A stronger euro against the US
dollar made dollar-denominated diamonds cheaper for German jewelers and
manufacturers restocking supplies, and jewelers
would pass on cost savings from cheaper sourcing to customers wherever
possible, he explained.
Jewelry and watch sales in Germany were
estimated to be up 0.5% to $5.79 billion (EUR 4.7 billion) in 2017, Lindner continued.
The show saw a 4% rise in exhibitor numbers
compared to the 2017 event, and some 27,000 trade visitors from more than 70
countries, organizers said.
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Tags:
Amazon, Cara Tonkin, David Brough, diamond, Digital Transformation, georg jensen, Germany’s Federal Association of Jewellers, Gesa Michahelles, Inhorgenta Munich, Insignety, Isabella Liu, Jewelry, Rapaport News, Stephan Lindner
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