U.S. Jewelry Sites Lose Market Share in 2008

U.S. e-commerce jewelry and watches websites were hard hit in 2008, declining some 12 percent year-over-year, and losing significant market share according to comScore.

While retail e-commerce spending (excluding travel) grew 6 percent to $130.1 billion in 2008, jewelry e-tailers did not enjoy from the growth. Jewelry and watches was one of the worst performing categories in 2008. The only two categories that fared worse were the Computer Software (excluding PC Games) and Music, Movies & Video categories.

Apparel & Accessories sites grew by 4 percent and the Video Games, Consoles & Accessories category enjoyed a strong 29 percent growth. This takes place as consumers reduced their purchasing budgets in the fourth quarter and shifted their tastes away from jewelry.

Underscoring this, retail e-commerce was up 15 percent year-over-year in April, steadily declining until it reached a negative growth of 3 percent in November and December, the holiday season.

Interestingly, while job search sites were the top gainer in percent (51%) during the difficult year, women sites grew the most in terms of the number of unique visitors - 100 million.