IDEX Online Research: Jewelers - Target Female Self-Purchasers, Part II

The model family of the 1950s, Dad is the sole earner and Mom is at home cooking three hot meals a day, is hard to be found in the U.S. these days. In this multi-part series, we are looking at what this means for jewelers. The good news: more women than ever before work outside of the home and now have the discretionary income to buy jewelry for themselves. The opportunity: self-purchasers.

The Opportunity for Jewelers – Female Self-Purchasers

Since women control spending and have significant income of their own, how can jewelers convince those female shoppers to come into their stores to buy jewelry? 

Currently, about two-thirds of jewelry sales in America are tied to specific annual calendar events. For example, Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, and Christmas are key calendar selling seasons for jewelers. Shoppers also buy jewelry to celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, and other key milestone events. These sales are driven by an external lifestyle event which often occurs annually. 

Only about one third of all jewelry is sold for an occasion not tied to a particular calendar period. These special occasions are often a reward for earning a bonus or a promotion. In addition, jewelry is often bought for no specific occasion – women simply find a piece of jewelry attractive enough to purchase it for themselves. 

The opportunity for jewelers is to capture the attention of this affluent female self-purchaser, and to increase the frequency those shoppers’ store visits in order to gain a top-of-mind position, for both the jewelers and the jewelry they sell.