- A heightened specialise in sustainability, transparency, and environment
The issues of transparency, environment, and sustainability are circulating for a few time now. In fact, Martin Rapaport tackled this in his ‘Synthetic Ethics’ talk at the annual Rapaport Breakfast at JCK 2019. There, he discussed the great side and therefore the bad side of lab-grown diamonds including the steps that the natural diamonds industry should fancy counter the invasion of lab-grown diamonds.
As a natural diamond jeweler, you almost certainly already know the impacts of lab-grown diamonds to your sales, but if you’re still wondering if it might really hit you, yes it’ll, as younger jewelry consumers have long been demanding for ethically sourced, environmentally responsible, and transparent trade practices. As a matter of fact, it’s not true that millennials killed the stress for diamonds. they’re still buying; they’re just not buying the way you expected them to. A 2019 Lab-Grown Diamond marketing research by MVI Marketing revealed that 70% of 1,000 polled consumers said they might consider buying lab-grown diamonds not only due to the value but also because they believed that by doing so, they’re helping save the world and advocate social justice for indigenous laborers.
As a response to the present trend, jewelers can adopt practices that promote transparency and traceability. for instance, acquiring traceability programs or technology to precise and evidence efforts to be transparent.
The blockchain system is that the gold industry’s solution to the present demand for transparency. It works with strict supply chain cooperation, which when done procedurally would allow traceability of supply from the mine to the buyer. The challenge here lies within the simplification of the method to form it efficient and fewer time-consuming.
Overall, transparency could increase the arrogance of your consumers, especially those that are willing to take a position within the value of natural diamonds but are postpone by the likelihood of unethical practices.
- the increase of self-purchasing females
We’re all for girl power!
Long before this trend arrived, Beyonce (and the remainder of Destiny’s Child!) had been singing about women’s economic independence, so this trend is extremely much welcomed.
Question: tell me what you think that about me? I buy my very own diamond and that i buy my very own rings…
Yes, more and more women are buying their own diamond and jewellery pieces. MVI Marketing’s Luxury Self Purchasing Female (SPF) Study Report 2020 revealed that 14% of high-income self-purchasing females (1/3 of 1,011 polled participants) spend quite $6K on jewelry or watch while only 13% of them buy rings for themselves. This figure is considerably low compared to the 25% of the opposite SPFs from different income brackets who spend on rings for themselves. Overall, the study showed that the bulk of the SPFs spend over $400 on jewelry.
There are different reasons why these women buy jewelry for themselves. See below.
To reward themselves for achieving a goal
Self-love
Just because
It’s their birthday
A holiday present
What this trend shows us may be a major shift in motivations for jewelry purchases. Right now, it’s not only solely focused on relationship milestones, but it’s also evidence of stronger female economic independent. Such a trend might be attributed to other factors like late marriages and therefore the reverberating theme of self-love and ladies empowerment.
- Branded vs. non-branded jewelry retailers
The competition between branded and non-branded jewelry retailers is claimed to be getting stiffer and stiffer this year, especially with the shift from developed to developing economies. for instance, Brazil, China, India, and UAE among many others would be the foremost relevant to the industry now and within the coming years. Jewelry consumers will come from these emerging economies and since these consumers are familiar with brands and would highly likely lean toward luxury brands, they’re going to dictate the competition between the 2 retailers. In fact, luxury brands are bullish on the retail of watches, accounting for 60% of the sales within the watch market, but McKinsey & Company analyzed that branded jewelry would rise from 20% to about 40% of sales this year.
Monobrands like Pandora enjoy this trend because it already has a longtime brand identity and consumer trust; however, non-branded jewelry retailers, don’t despair. Find how to differentiate your brand from others and stick with that. Establish your own identity, offer unique, well-curated products that maximize local pride, and cash in of various marketing channels.
- The shaping from internationalization and consolidation
If you’re an independent jeweler, you’d likely to carry your own during this dynamic and fast-growing industry as long as you’re ready to capture not only the eye but more deeply, the hearts of the local consumers, you’ve got a healthy record, and you recognize your brand. However, those that would wish quite these or lack any of those might find themselves exploring more options to remain afloat.
In consolidation and internationalization, the industry will see more international brands/groups acquiring smaller businesses, local and independent jewelers or core players consolidating. In fact, industry experts, as McKinsey & Company reported, observed that the ten largest jewelry groups would double their market share this year by simply acquiring small local jewelry retailers.
Late last year, we saw how Paris-based LVMH, Bulgari owner, has agreed to shop for Tiffany & Co at $135 a share amidst the latter’s declining profits and annual sales in China and therefore the USA. The LVMH’s acquisition of the American luxury jewelry icon, would expose the previous to the diamond and jewelry watches product and would offer them with more access to American luxury consumers.
- Multichannel marketing
This year, marketing efforts are expected to urge more extensive than ever with jewelers and marketers alike adopting multichannel platforms to share brand and merchandise information, attract attention through visual presentation, establish brand identity, and strengthen the customer relationship.
In fact, having just a web presence is not any longer enough as jewelers start to increase their operations by putting brick-and-mortar stores. As discovered, jewelry consumers still prefer tactile experiences when buying jewelry thanks to unresolved trust issues. However, incorporating digital media into their shopping experience gives more edge to jewelers. After all, consumers are, first and foremost, turning to the web to research the merchandise. McKinsey reported that two-thirds of their polled participants admittedly resort to online research before heading to the shop while two-thirds use social media for advice and knowledge. Indeed, the web world has become their primary source of data.
Reconfiguring the way you approach multichannel platforms is critical to the success of your sales and marketing team. this is often because, so as to bring pedestrian traffic to your jewelry dealer, you want to first romance consumers online. Woo them together with your studio-quality jewelry images and videos in order that they feel compelled to ascertain the piece in flesh. Showing them poor quality jewelry images and videos would cause you to lose shoppers during a matter of second, especially when options abound online.