The 4Cs are not the only things that make a piece of diamond jewelry a sales winner. In an ongoing series, Rapaport Diamond Report explores the “3Ws” — what’s selling, what’s not and why — by going straight to the people who really know — jewelry retailers. Each month, we ask a sampling of retailers to comment on the important issues that are facing the industry today. Here is what they had to say when asked in early May: Has your customer profile changed over the past two years and has that changed the way you do business?
PATRICK J. MURPHY, OWNER
MURPHY JEWELERS
POTTSVILLE, PENNSYLVANIA
“I wouldn’t say we’re getting a different customer, I’d say we’re getting the same type of customer but they’re requesting different price points. We’re still selling a lot of diamonds, but we’re trying to respond to that consumer request. We came up with a price point that would fit the bill of the majority of the customers who are coming in. Fortunately, we have a lot of activity with the bridal market, which is good. But it seems like we’re working harder to stay on top of it, listening to the requests of what customers are asking for.”
PHILIP DuPUIS, OWNER
DuPUIS et FILS JEWELERS AND GOLDSMITHS
JACKSON, MICHIGAN
“The buying habits of consumers have certainly changed. They’re more aware of value than they may have been a couple of years ago. They’re doing their homework prior to looking at stones, which to me is great, because it does my job for me. They’re going online and doing research; they know what they want. So it actually has improved in that sense. We haven’t changed the merchandise we stock, but there is a lot of competition and we are competing against the internet, so that requires us to be a little more service-oriented to close the sale.”
SAM PATEL, STORE DIRECTOR
JR DUNN
LIGHTHOUSE POINT, FLORIDA
“The appropriate answer is that consumers are more price savvy — that’s one of the criteria that they are looking at. But first and foremost, even before price consideration, number one is they’re shopping at reputable stores, where they have trust and confidence in the local jeweler. Then they’re shopping for the variety of vendors and styles that we carry and then the third consideration is price. And we’ve added some price-point items that consumers feel very good about because it gives them options.
“The consumers in ’08 to ’09, which was the turmoil period, were gun-shy about whether they would buy luxury items — and jewelry, other than engagement rings that are signs of a true commitment, is a luxury. When it came to engagement rings, they might downscale in the dollar amount they would spend but the sale of engagement rings did not stop. The only area that we saw the shift change was in fashion jewelry, because that’s truly an item that people can live without. But by the same token, the consumer who was going to buy a high-ticket item ended up spending a little bit less and buying something else. So people shifted their mindset.”
DAVID YEE, SENIOR GEMOLOGIST
AUCOIN HART JEWELERS
METAIRIE, LOUISIANA
“I think they’re adjusting right now to the high prices of metal and the high prices of diamonds. Their expectations about size are smaller, their budgets are smaller and they’re a little bit more cautious and they’re shopping us harder. Consumers are not as heavily into pears and marquises and ovals — we used to sell a lot of those and now we hardly sell them at all. The market’s really centered around rounds, cushions and princesses and emeralds. I guess there’s more bang for the buck in square stones, and rounds are often the premier stones. Fashion jewelry is selling, but it needs to be branded, like David Yurman, that kind of thing. We’re not selling quite as much of ruby, emerald, sapphire — they’re still very slow. Other color is doing okay and watches are picking up.
“Competition was stiff before and now it’s really stiff. Jewelers are all fighting for the same piece of the pie. Service is what we do, so that’s been the same. In terms of merchandise, we’ve expanded our middle price range. Bridal is still the mainstay of what we do and we work harder to make sure we give them good value on the stones and are super competitive. By specializing in CAD designs that they can tweak and adjust, we can take anything in the case and modify it to their specifications. CAD is a good selling tool because we try to stress that we can do practically anything — plus we have a complete shop so we can go from design to ‘on her hand’ in less than two weeks.”
GINA DILL, OWNER
KINNE’S JEWELERS
GAINESVILLE, TEXAS
“Definitely, things have changed. We’re doing as well or better — the price per ticket is lower, but we sell more of them. People are a lot more casual now; it just seems like we’re selling more casual-style jewelry, which is a lower-ticket item. But we’ve been doing some of our own art jewelry casting and that’s brought in a younger clientele. And as far as my diamond business, there are a lot of people out there wanting to sell their diamonds or move their diamonds and that’s opened up a new opportunity for me. I’ve been able to connect the right people with the right diamond within my own area and still kept my quality up, because I’m very picky and choosy about what I will take in for consignment goods.
“We feel positive around here. Our store has been here since 1889. We’re doing business differently, but we’re still okay. We’ve gone all-computer with our inventory and just try to beef up on service. We have good clientele coming in because we really try to service our customer.”
MARK AND MONIKA CLODIUS, CO-OWNERS
CLODIUS & COMPANY JEWELERS
ROCKFORD, ILLINOIS“Certainly, customers have changed and the most notable part of that is the average price point has dropped tremendously. Interestingly, our piece count — the number of items of jewelry we’ve sold — has gone up 100 percent in the past year and we’re very, very thankful for that. But the average price point has dropped over 100 percent, so we’re working harder to stay in the same place.
“We’ve been marketing to appeal to a broader range of clients and we’ve had some success with that. Seeding the lower price points as well as having exquisite nice pieces — which have not been selling as quickly as they did a couple of years ago — is really working well to draw on a diverse clientele. We’re making sure that the watch battery customer is well treated; we appreciate everyone who walks in the door.”
Article from the Rapaport Magazine - June 2010. To subscribe click here.