As 2018 hit the mid-year mark, retailers reported sales that were even with last year. Some worried that flat results were a troubling indication of encroaching online competition, while others saw digital as an opportunity to connect with younger customers. As the year unfolds, the hope is that lagging sales will pick up at the end of the year, as will a push for better digital engagement.
New York: Still essential
Summer is traditionally a slow time for jewelers, but in the Big Apple, there’s no down season for Elizabeth Doyle, co-founder of Doyle & Doyle. The store’s location in New York’s trendy Meatpacking District “is busy in the summer with the museums and tourism and hotels,” she reported. “People come to town for this neighborhood, and people who are in this town want to come to this neighborhood for all sorts activities. We don’t slow down for the summer.”
Doyle said her business was even with last year, with sales beginning to trend upward. But she was also conscious of how the internet had changed the industry.
“Everything is moving more toward online, and not just website,” she said. “Instagram is big for us, and we’re doing a lot more through email. And as the customer base gets younger and more comfortable doing things online, we do more through photos. I do think online storytelling has become more important, and now we have to tell that story through photos and writing.”
But regardless of how people are buying jewelry, they still see jewelry as essential, according to Doyle. “If you get married, you need an engagement ring and a wedding ring. It’s not ‘want.’ It’s ‘need.’ And there’s nothing else that can do that.”
Even across the board
Sales have also been even year-on-year for Steve Samaras, president and owner of Zachary’s Jewelers, which has two stores in Maryland. “We are year-to-date even right with where we were last year,” he said. “We may be a point or two different, but last Christmas was our best ever, so coming out of that type of season with a slow first quarter is okay, and the summer months are typically flat. We had a very busy second quarter, and things typically work out during the year unless you have some major catastrophic downturn. I expect to be up by the end of the year.”
Samaras said his team’s digital strategy was also a large part of his store’s success. “You have to have a dedicated digital person if you’re going to succeed with anything. Last year, we did over a quarter of a million [dollars in sales] online because of that. We’re developing online as a third store now.”
Facing online challenges
Flat year-on-year results seemed to be the common thread across the US, but the internet has been harder on some than
on others.
“We’re right now, as of the end of June, even, but even is not good,” said Mike Butterfield, owner of Butterfield Jewelers in Albuquerque, New Mexico. “Even is just treading water. It’s been a challenge. It’s been up and down and down and up.”
He said the internet continued to be a problem, and online pricing made his margins more challenging. “The question is, can we increase the volume and keep the quality the same? The jury is still out on that. We’re relying on bridal, and it’s a challenge to work with small margins.”
While his store posts regularly on Facebook, he continued, radio is still 70% of his advertising. “We’ve always adhered to the maxim that if you dominate radio, you dominate media, but the problem is ...at what percent are we not getting any return for it? We’re behind the times on social media, but we’re pretty active out there, and the pressure is coming.”
Article from the Rapaport Magazine - August 2018. To subscribe click here.