US Sales of Watches and Jewellery Enjoys “Largest Increase” in Months

The Mastercard SpendingPulse report, released last week, shows that holiday retail sales (October 11 through December 24) rose in all categories – with jewellery enjoying the second largest growth year-on-year.
All in all, holiday retail sales excluding automotive and gasoline increased 3% in the holidays. Online sales grew 49% compared to 2019, and accounted for 19.7% of overall retail sales – up from approximately 13.4% in 2019.
Home furniture and furnishings experienced the strongest growth compared to 2019, up 16.2%. This sector grew 31 online specifically. In addition, home improvement was up 14.1%, with e-commerce sales up 79.7%. Total retail jewellery sales fell by 4.3% as the pandemic hit the revenue of physical stores, but e-commerce jewellery sales rose by 44.6%..
According to the study, sales were down on Black Friday (-16.1%) but it was still the top spending day of the 2020 holiday season. The Thanksgiving weekend through Cyber Monday “remained a key time for shoppers”.
Another related shopping report – a survey conducted by InStore Magazine among jewellers in the US – shows that they have ended 2020 with a “joyous” growth in sales. According to the magazine’s 2020 Holiday Season Mini Survey, 60% of respondents said that they beat their 2019 holiday sales. More than two-thirds described their store’s performance as either “better-than expected” or “terrific”. 27% did worse than last year and the remaining 13% said they “came in on par” with 2019 numbers.
The drivers of the sales surge were: “house-bound consumers with cash on hand thanks to travel restrictions, people looking to express their love for close ones during a difficult time, and a renewed focus on community ties, including supporting small business owners”. According to 55% of the jewellers, average spending rose compared to 2019.
In addition, a recently published research report from Bain & Company shows that consumer spending on luxury goods in mainland China “saw a significant boost” in 2020 “due to a reduction in international travel creating an exponential boost in domestic spending”. Leather goods and jewellery led the way at a rate growth of 70% to 80%.