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Cover
Retail Rap
By Phyllis Schiller
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Phillips House
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The 4Cs are not the only things that make a piece of diamond jewelry a sales winner. In an ongoing series, Rapaport Magazine 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: “Was this a successful holiday season?”
“We were happy with how this year turned out. Our product sales are up over 2014 by about 9 percent. We made a decision at the end of the summer to invest in our ecommerce, and I think that really drove people into our store because we had a lot of our product for them to see. One of the biggest things we sold this year, which we sold barely any of in 2014, was diamond studs.
“I don’t know if it’s because it was unseasonably warm here, but I felt like the season was a little more delayed this year. It was almost as if people were not in the mood to buy until the week before. I think people were cautious still but willing to spend a little bit more or at least have some fun buying, more like we had seen in the past.”
“This Christmas season was about even with 2014, but the year was better. Shimmering diamonds were very popular and the two-stone rings. Other diamond fashion jewelry sold and a little bit of bridal, too. It wasn’t as big a bridal year as before but I have noticed people buying a little bigger diamonds than in the past. Shoppers were still very budget oriented. A lot of them came in here thinking they’d spend half what they usually do. But we also had a lot of new customers.”
“Our Christmas season was great — probably about 15 percent over 2014 for the month. The four biggest days, of course, were right before Christmas, but traffic was pretty steady all through December. We moved the store a year and a half ago and the new location has translated into a lot of great things for us. We saw big increases in center diamond sales and a 30 percent increase in sales overall and repairs and custom. And people definitely gravitated toward our sale case. And this holiday, fancy shape diamonds, ovals in particular, were pretty hot.”
“It definitely was a great holiday; we’re up from 2014. It was off to a slow start but there were a lot of buyers in the last two to three weeks. Our estate pieces are always hot sellers, as are diamond earrings. And a lot of the higher-end sterling silver fashion jewelry was also very popular this year. We actually had quite a few larger diamond sales to couples upgrading their diamonds. We sold quite a bit of 2-carat to 2.50-carat rounds this season.”
“This holiday was basically comparable to 2014, we’re a little bit ahead. The sales were more spread out; it wasn’t as concentrated as it has been in past seasons. Instead of everything being focused in December, it was more overall, from November through December. So we were up for the quarter, but for December, we were kind of flat.
“What sold were pretty much the standards — we carry John Hardy, Roberto Coin, Mikimoto — and of course, Rolex. We started carrying some lighter fashion, Lana Jewelry, which did fairly well, and Phillips House, which is a new line for us, did well. Bridal was a little soft in December but overall for the quarter, we were still up. When we did sell a diamond, it was usually over 2 carats.”
“It was about average for us. We had a very good November and then it got quiet for a couple of weeks until the last couple of days. We had a very good Christmas Eve. What sold spreads out among all categories — a little higher-end product, a basic number of diamond wedding bands and engagement rings and fashion jewelry. We always sell a little more fashion jewelry — diamond hoop earrings are a good item for us and bar necklaces were a good gift idea. We sold a little more yellow gold fashion jewelry, in the way of bangle bracelets, yellow gold hoop earrings.
“Nine out of ten people who come in, buy. I don’t see people hesitating on whether to spend the money.”
“We did well. It was good, steady traffic for three weeks straight. In 2014, we didn’t have Christmas until five days before.
“Diamonds in general sold real well, mostly bridal, a little bit in fashion. Yellow gold sold very well but we didn’t have as much color sales as we normally do. Customers are still budget-oriented. Most of our bridal was under the $5,000 retail range.”
“At this point, we’re just slightly behind what I did last Christmas. But I’m way ahead of 2014’s total figures. It was really busy at the beginning of December, then we had a lull, and then the last eight days, it was busy. We sold a lot of engagement rings, mostly our private-label ideal diamonds, and almost every one in a halo mounting. We also sold a ton of diamond eternity bands, wedding bands. I did notice that people who wanted to trade up on their diamonds were coming in with not just that ring but other jewelry to put toward getting what they wanted to buy. I sold a lot of estate jewelry and a lot of estate diamond jewelry, older, one-of-a-kind pieces. I’m looking forward to 2016. I have lessons learned from this year that buying habits are changing, so I will change with it.”Article from the Rapaport Magazine - January 2016. To subscribe click here.
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