U.S. Jewelry Sales Post Big Rise in October
December 18, 17(IDEX Online) – Sales of fine jewelry and fine watches rose by 7.0 percent in the U.S. market in October 2017, when compared to the same month a year ago, as the graph below illustrates.
Sales were an estimated $6.5 billion, according to preliminary data from the U.S. Commerce Department. The October sales performance was higher than the figure for the month before and just below the 7.2 percent figure recorded in July.
The sales rise in October was below the year-earlier month when the increase was 8.9 percent.
Specialty Jewelers Market Powerful in October
Specialty jewelers in the American market again took market share from multi-line retailers who also sell jewelry, with sales of $2.4 billion.
Specialty jewelers posted a 10.9 percent sales rise in October from September, while other multi-line merchants who sell jewelry generated an estimated rise year-over-year in sales of 7.7 percent, as the graph below illustrates.
The graph below summarizes sales trends for specialty jewelers since the beginning of 2017. For American jewelers, demand has been growing strongly in recent months. There was a 10.9% rise in October. Their sales gains easily outpaced the total jewelry market, including sales at all retailers who sell jewelry.
Specialty Jewelers Winning Market Share
While specialty jewelers have been generally been losing out against multi-line merchants since the start of the year, October was the sixth consecutive month where specialty jewelers recorded decisively better results against multi-line merchants.
The graph below summarizes the disparity between specialty jewelers’ sales gains and jewelry sales trends for all other retail merchants who sell jewelry. Specialty jewelers’ sales are represented by the red bars; multi-line retailers’ jewelry sales are shown on the blue bars.
Fine Watch Sales Stronger Than Fine Jewelry Sales
By category, fine jewelry sales were up around 6.5 percent in October, and fine watch sales rose by 7.4 percent. October was the third consecutive month in which watch sales were higher than jewelry sales.
Consumer Demand Slips in October
Total retail sales of all goods, except autos, posted a rise of 4.5 percent sales gain in October, after a 3.9 percent increase in September. All jewelry and watch sales saw a higher increase – up 6.6 percent, although it was down from a 7.5 percent rise in September. The graph below illustrates sales trends for all retail sales (green bars) versus sales gains for jewelry (red bars).
Outlook Optimistic for 2017 Jewelry Sales
While chain jewelers have been reporting generally insipid sales for the most recent fiscal quarter ended September 2017, independent jewelers have generally been reporting stronger sales gains.
Our preliminary forecast for jewelry sales gains in the U.S. market for 2017 is a gain in the four percent range, year-over-year.