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Fine Jewelry - Consumer Journey
Americans mostly buy fine jewelry in-store, after consulting a jeweler. People buy fine jewelry because of the way it makes them feel, and young people want more variety in colour and fashion styles when buying fine jewelry.
How and Where Americans Research About Fine Jewelry
- Buyers of fine jewelry prefer to see a piece of fine jewelry in-store before they make a purchase, even if they conduct initial research online.
- When it comes to purchase locations, consumers prefer to buy fine jewelry from national chain stores or local small businesses, than from websites, duty-free stores, and big-box stores. For online stores, those with physical presence are preferred.
- According to research by The Futurist, fine jewelry consumers shop in-store, and do so for marriage or engagement-related gifts, and they chose brands based on status.
- According to a US consumer research and retail insights conducted by Jewelers of America, 64% of fine jewelry purchasers visit a jewelry store to speak to a jeweler as part of their buying research process.
Fine Jewelry Purchase Motivations
- According to a July 2018 study by MVI Marketing, a consumer market research firm that specializes in fine jewelry, over 51% of fine jewelry consumers buy them for themselves (self-purchasing). Their top purchase motivations being to get exactly what they desire, to reward themselves for reaching a milestone, to commemorate a special memory or trip, and ‘just because’.
- Half (50%) of consumers believe that fine jewelry has sentimental value and helps to mark special occasions.
- Results from a 2017 MVI Marketing survey showed that 91% of respondents were interested in buying more fine jewelry because of the way it makes them feel.
When Americans buy Fine Jewelry and What They Look out for
- Of all fine jewelry purchases made in the US, almost 25% of them are made during the November – December holiday season.
- According to the MVI research, self-purchasing females, especially younger ones, want to see more variety in colour and fashion styles represented in fine jewelry stores. They want more colour to go with their outfits.
- Consumers stated that they will most likely give gifts of gold (40%), followed by sterling (32%), and coloured gems and pearls (32%) in the next year.
- When millenials buy fine jewelry, they search online to compare prices, find product details, and look for discounts and promotions.
Additional Insights
- An average US household spends over $600 on fine jewelry and watches per year.
- Over thirty-six percent (36.12%) of Americans who own fine jewelry are between 18 and 29 years old, 43.63% are between 30 and 49 years old, and 35.88% are between 50 and 64 years old.
Research Strategy
After detailed and wide-reaching research, your research team could not find any information regarding the differences in fine jewelry consumer journey based on price points. We commenced by searching through credible industry data providers and databases such as Statista and Business Insider. We had hoped to find credible data that highlighted the journey of an American fine jewelry purchaser. While we were able to find the share of Americans who own fine jewelry by share, there was no information regarding the customer journey.
Next, we moved on to find publications/interviews of fine jewelry sellers and retailers from which we could deduce the general customer journey and that based on price points. While we were able to find a survey of fine jewelry consumers and retailers that provided some information regarding a typical customer journey, but had no information consumer journey based on price points.
Furthermore, we went ahead to search for consumer studies and surveys on fine jewelry in order to get insights into the purchase journey of fine jewelry and how it changes based on price points. This approach led us to surveys by The Futurist, Jewelers of America, and MVI Marketing. These surveys provided information on the general customer journey of an American purchasing fine jewelry, but none of these had information on the journey when based on price points.