Use of Internet Technologies

JCK Online reported that according to a study of the jewelry consumer market performed by the JCK–Harrison Group based on an “unaided recall” pattern consumers were more often apt to recall the names of jewelry retailers than those of manufacturing brands.
The study proved that although the Internet was increasingly popular with jewelry shoppers, more than half of consumers still preferred brick-and-mortar stores to online buying. When asked where they purchased jewelry in the previous two years, 87 percent of respondents said they had bought it from a retail store. Forty two percent purchased jewelry online. Thirty-five percent indicated they had purchased jewelry at a discount store, and 18 percent selected “other” (including TV shopping, catalogs, etc.). By contrast, in the last consumer study, conducted in 1999, only 3 percent of respondents said they had shopped for jewelry online.

Although 57 percent of respondents’ first response to the unaided-brand-recall question was the name of a local jewelry store, when asked where they actually bought jewelry in the previous two years, the numbers were somewhat lower. The results were equally divided (41 percent each) between local jewelry or watch stores, chain jewelry stores, and department stores.
In 1999, 53 percent of consumers indicated they had recently bought jewelry at an independent jewelry store (vs. 41 percent in the 2008 study). In 1999, a chain store was named by 32 percent of respondents.
However it should be taken into account that in 1999 there were more independent jewelry companies in the United States as well as more jewelry stores. But nine years later, more avenues of distribution opened up for fine jewelry. A greater number of malls were built, making mall-based jewelry chain stores accessible to more shoppers.
In 2008, 35 percent of respondents said they purchased jewelry at a discount store in the past two years. This figure has more than doubled since the 1999 study.

The study revealed that the first words coming to respondents’ minds when they think about jewelry stores were “overpriced” or just “expensive.”
In 1999, only 2 percent of respondents selected “Internet retail site, non-auction,” and 1 percent said they had bought jewelry from an online auction site (such as eBay).
When it came to 2008 online purchasing, females significantly outnumbered males in selecting “Internet auction site,” whereas males significantly outnumbered females buying from a jewelry-specific site or a brand’s own site.
The study also revealed other distinctions in the shopping behavior of both sexes. It turned out that females are more patient and purposeful in looking for a specific piece of jewelry, while males tend to minimize the time spent for a purchase (logging in, selecting a thing and logging off). In the case of brick-and-mortar retail, there is a higher incidence of men vs. women shopping in branded shops or upscale specialty stores. This probably suggests that such a buyer is looking for a specific product, likely at the request or recommendation of a female recipient.