On the whole, the pre-festive sales in Russian jewelry stores were sufficiently successful. Retailers in various Russian cities noted high demand for adornments. Pre-festive queues in jewelry stores turned into a habitual phenomenon. Still, there were some peculiarities in choosing gifts as compared with other holidays. For instance, unlike February 14, rings were the most common gift for March 8 - starting from the cheapest rings with fianits and zircons up to expensive diamond rings. At the same time, for example in Surgut, according to reports from some stores, expensive jewelry with diamonds and emeralds remained unclaimed for the holiday. The same picture was in Rostov-on-Don: according to the “KP-Rostov”, gold adornments with gems whose prices on March 8 never fell below 10,000 roubles were left untouched under the showcase glass. Only individual women in Rostov became owners of earrings and rings worth 50,000 roubles. Vendors in various areas of this country confirmed that on March 8 buying priority was given to gold items. Marketing experts believe that women themselves were playing an important role in pre-holiday jewelry sales, as for instance mothers who were buying adornments for their daughters.
Despite the semi-official negative attitude towards Saint Valentine’s Day, in some cases it was used to promote goods produced by the jewelry industry. Thus, in Tambov one week before Saint Valentine’s Day one of the jewelry boutiques distributed its flyers. Promoters handed out 20% discount coupons for jewelry. The residents were informed about this action by an advertising campaign run on one of the local TV channels. On February 14, the boutique organized a holiday program and a champagne treat for visitors. Nevertheless, for this day the Yenissey Jewelry Factory specially prepared a new collection of male adornments. The new collection was made of white and red gold with various types of gems - white and black diamonds and sapphires. The collection included a tie clip, cuff links and a ring and was aimed at businessmen and well-to-do men, since the price of this set reached 100,000-150,000 roubles depending on gems.
To promote this collection, the Yenissey Jewelry Factory resorted to the Siberian Jeweler -2008 Exhibition, which took place on February 28 – March 2 in Novosibirsk. By March 8, Altyn as always announced a regular special action. Altyn offered almost 70% discounts for jewelry for the period of this action. If a buyer purchased a certain amount of jewelry, he or she was promised a gift certificate for some jewelry item. It should be noted that Altyn takes into account the purchasing power of population and this is why the terms of its action in various provinces are different. Thus, in Moscow the gift certificate was conditioned by a 15,000 rouble worth purchase. While in Saint Petersburg this limit was set at 9,500 roubles.
There was a curious dialogue between Ferkat Halliulin, a regional representative of Almaz Holding, and a correspondent of the “Vechernyaya Ufa”:
- Right now many marketers are offering attractive discounts for jewelry. This is bewildering buyers…
- … and not without reasons. If someone is trying to sell, let’s say foodstuffs, for half of their price, this will cause reasonable questions as to their quality. In this case, how many times has the nominal price been increased, if jewelry is sold at half of its value? Yes, one may be lured by a 50%-70% discount, but there is a chance to lose buying a low-quality item or purchasing it at a knowingly charged up price.
The Adamas Jewelry Network did not announce special actions timed to coincide with the women’s holiday. However, the most circulated Russian newspapers (“Komsomolskaya Pravda” and “Arguments and Facts”) ran publications dedicated to the winner of the New Year lottery who turned to be an owner of a Mercedes car:
“If you think that Ann’s case is exclusive, you are mistaken. The network of Adamas boutiques embraces over 70 Russian cities and includes more than 200 jewelry stores and prize actions are offered by this company with enviable regularity. This time, for instance, besides the expensive foreign-made car there were also two thousands adornments of all sorts offered as prizes. Two thousands is quite a figure. Taking into account that Adamas is set on keeping up its tradition to give a lucky chance to their customers, you may become one of the winners.”
On the holiday eve, the Moscow stores of Adamas featured ex-factory prices for some items. For this holiday Adamas produced new jewelry things.
The Moscow Jewelry Plant did not promise any discounts for its buyers. Inviting to buy for March 8 in their stores, the company positioned itself as a “well-established” enterprise and one of the “jewelry vogue legislators”:
“The Moscow Jewelry Plant is one of a few enterprises in this country having a full production cycle – from diamond mining and gems cutting to manufacturing jewelry items and their consequent sales through its own company network. This is why the plant may offer any items with diamonds of any cut type to its clients. Your jewelry dreams may come true assisted by the plant’s own design bureau. Its designers and jewelers are skilled in bringing together new fashion trends and jewelry traditions. For many years this well-established enterprise has been and remains one of the jewelry vogue legislators.”
Some jewelry boutiques of Surgut offered an original and modern way of promoting jewelry. Buyers had an opportunity to order an adornment according to their own sketches or to choose designs for their jewelry items from the catalogue.
The action devised in Bashkiria was caused by entirely different reasons, but coincided with the pre-festive rush. On March 2, the date of president elections, it was planned to give special “gratitude coupons” to all voters, which could be exchanged in stores participating in the program for a discount and, as it was affirmed by the Ufa edition of the “Komsomolskaya Pravda”, for quite a significant discount. Thus, the jewelry boutiques for example promised to cut their prices for about 10%.
