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U.S. Luxury Spending Down
Wealthy U.S. consumers are growing more nervous about their
financial status and they dramatically reduced spending in the second quarter,
according to Unity Marketing’s preliminary findings for its quarterly Luxury Consumption
Index (LCI). The group noted affluent consumers cut their luxury spending for
the April through June period by 27 percent year on year. This level of
spending was also down 8 percent against the company’s first-quarter report.
“The up-and-down trajectory of the LCI that we’ve seen over
the past year measures continued uncertainty among affluent consumers who make
up the heavy lifters in the overall consumer economy,” said Pam Danziger, the
president of Unity Marketing.
She said that spending by ultra-affluents this past quarter
dropped to its lowest level since 2008. “If this key consumer segment for the
super-premium luxury brands continues apace, many luxury marketers will have a
hard time meeting high comparable sales goals this year,” Danziger warned.
Online Sales and Ads Surge
Digital and internet research firm comScore Inc. reported
that online U.S. retail sales climbed 15 percent year on year to $43.2 billion
during the second quarter that ended on June 30. It was the eleventh consecutive
quarter of positive growth and seventh consecutive quarter of double-digit
growth, according to the firm.
The top-performing online product categories included
digital content and subscriptions, electronics, flowers, greetings and gifts,
computer hardware, apparel and accessories. Each of those categories grew at
least 16 percent year on year.
comScore also reported that the number of U.S. internet
users who watched online videos in July rose only 2.2 percent year on year to
184 million. However, the number of advertisements they viewed hit 9.6 billion,
an 81.1 percent jump from July 2011. Video ads accounted for 20.7 percent of
all videos viewed and 1.6 percent of all minutes spent viewing videos online.
Google Sites, including YouTube, ranked as the top online
video content property in July with 157 million unique viewers, followed by
Facebook with 53 million users, Yahoo! Sites with 48.7 million, VEVO with 44.8
million and Microsoft Sites with 42.7 million, according to comScore.
Jewelry’s Value Exceeds Price Tag
An online survey conducted for Perfect Circle Jewelry
Insurance by Jewelers Mutual Insurance Company found that over half of
respondents had lost a piece of jewelry that was either emotionally or
monetarily valuable.
The “Protecting Precious Memories” survey of 600 married
women in the U.S. found that most of the jewelry lost was valued at under
$5,000. However, the true value was in the emotional connections the women had
with their jewelry. Nearly three-quarters of the women rated the loss as
“emotionally jarring and upsetting.” Furthermore, over two-thirds of these
women never replaced the piece because they did not have insurance to fully
cover their loss.
JA Strengthens Political Advocacy
Jewelers of America (JA) announced the expansion of its
online Legislative Action Center to six state and regional partner association
websites in order to strengthen the political voice of the jewelry
industry.
Using this
online system, jewelers in those states can send messages to officials or use
JA’s or the state association’s prewritten action alerts and talking points on
legislative actions that affect their businesses.
The six state and regional partner associations that joined
JA on the project are Intermountain Jewelers Association (Idaho, Nevada and
Utah), Missouri Jewelers Association, Nebraska/South Dakota Jewelers
Association, New York State Jewelers Association, North Carolina Jewelers
Association and Oklahoma Jewelers Association. For more information, go to www.jewelers.org/legislative-action.
Stuller Introduces New Silver Alloy
Stuller Inc. introduced a patent-pending silver alloy,
Continuum Sterling Silver.
Consisting of more than 95 percent precious metal, the new alloy has the
look of platinum with the strength of gold, according to the company.
Stuller described the new alloy as cost effective, durable,
long lasting and exceptionally tarnish resistant. It casts 35 percent harder
than regular sterling silver, comparable to the as-cast feel of 14-karat gold.
Contimuum has an as-cast hardness of 95 to 115 HV that can be hardened to 150
HV, making it possible to manufacture intricate and light designs. It is strong enough to hold both large
stones and melee.
MJ Christensen Supports Sustainable Diamonds
In an ongoing effort to educate the local community about
the global impact of ethical diamond consumption, Las Vegas jeweler MJ
Christensen Diamonds is creating an “Ethical Affair” campaign designed to show
its customers how jewelry purchases help the socioeconomic development of
resource-producing countries. As part of this initiative, the jeweler forged
alliances with both the Diamond Development Initiative (DDI) and the Diamond
Empowerment Fund (D.E.F.).
Chow Tai Fook Plans Production Center
Chow Tai Fook held a groundbreaking ceremony for the Chow
Tai Fook Jewellery Park in Wuhan, China that is designed to meet the needs of
its jewelry retail business and support future growth.
Located in central China, it will become the company’s
largest integrated production and logistics center and will include a
production plant, a national distribution center, a sale exhibition and visitor
center, craft training center and other supporting facilities.
Article from the Rapaport Magazine - September 2012. To subscribe click here.