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Jewelry Industry
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Unlike the pawn, check cashing and check advance industries, dedicated jewelry stores (as differentiated from pawnshops that also deal in jewelry) tend to feel the impact of a negative economy almost immediately. Even so, the industry has experienced an enormous upturn through the past decade. According to Jewelry Circular Keystone (JCK), an industry trade publication, there are some 49,000 jewelry stores in the United states with average annual store sales of $642,000.
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The U.S. Commerce Department data shows 1998 nationwide independent store jewelry sales of $22.3 billion, up 8.5% over 1997 sales of $20.6 billion. Those figures are just slightly lower than the 9.3% gains reported by 400 jewelers surveyed by Jewelers of America. According to JCK, they are also close to the 8% growth reported by the nearly 300 members of JCK’s retail panel. Similarly, the World Gold Council reported unit sales increases of 8.4% for the year, with a 7.7% increase in the dollar value of those sales.
The brightest note in the sales figures comes from a look backward at the decade before 1998: Jewelry sales shot up 56% for the period.
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Jewelry Store Sales Soar
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Year |
Annual Sales |
Growth |
| 1995 |
$19,072,000,000 |
6.1% |
| 1996 |
$20,168,000,000 |
5.7% |
| 1997 |
$20,550,000,000 |
1.9% |
| 1998 |
$22,295,000,000 |
8.5% |
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Source: U.S. Commerce Department
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Jewelers, who deal in small items that can be easily lost or hidden, require  automated systems that provide detailed inventory and tracking capabilities. A system that can follow a precious stone or article of jewelry from its original purchase from a wholesale supplier, through its inventory and display in the store, to its ultimate sale. Detailed buying information, by customer, is also helpful to a jewelers marketing efforts in that a significant percentage of their sales are to repeat customers.
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