After stalling, jewelry sales perked up in the final days before Christmas, National Jeweler's Exclusive Holiday Season Weekly Survey shows.
The weekly survey has been used to analyze weekend sales throughout the holiday season, but this final version focused on sales in the last four days leading up to Christmas, Dec. 21-24.
Of those who took the anonymous poll, 69 percent reported that sales in this four-day period were "very good" (40 percent) or "good" (29 percent).
Only 56 percent reported sales were "very good" (28 percent) or "good" (28 percent) in the prior survey, conducted for the weekend of Dec. 19.
Those who reported sales were "flat" declined from 19 percent in the last survey to 15 percent in this survey, those who said sales were "poor" slid from 12 percent to 7 percent, and respondents who reported sales were "very poor" fell from 13 percent to 9 percent, results show.
"The last three days, Dec. 22-24, were the best three days before Christmas we have had in the last four years. We did well over $60,000, when we have typically done between $50,000 and $60,000 in those three days," one retailer wrote.
A few retailers noted that the streak of more shoppers spending less - a trend that has permeated this selling season for jewelers - continued right up until Christmas Day.
"The unit sale was not as good as last year, but the number of sales almost made up for the difference," one retailer wrote.
Another noted, "The average sale was very low, however, our customer count has been astronomical this month, varying between 60-80 percent above last season!"
On a category-by-category basis, the survey shows that sales of non-bridal diamond jewelry gained momentum in the final days before the holiday.
A whopping 65 percent of respondents reported sales of non-bridal diamond jewelry were "good," up from 48 percent who reported "good" non-bridal diamond jewelry sales in the last survey.
Pearl jewelry sales also perked up, the survey shows. Of those polled, 48 percent reported pearl sales were "good," up from 34 percent in the last survey.
Sterling silver regained its luster. Fifty-nine percent of those surveyed reported "good" sterling silver jewelry sales, up from 51 percent in the previous survey.
Gold also gained some ground, with 32 percent of respondents reporting sales of gold jewelry were "good," up from 28 percent.
Falling off a bit were sales of bridal diamond jewelry, colored-gemstone jewelry and platinum.
While many jewelers were made merry Christmas week, some retailers surveyed reported that the economy continues to be challenging.
"Was it Christmas?" one respondent questioned, while another said it was "very quiet."
Another responded that his or her store made "just enough sales to stop the bleeding," noting that, "We will get suppliers paid but little will be left. We will not be able to replenish our cash reserve coffers...Two jewelry stores in our town are going out of business. The economic crunch is alive and well in our community. It will take creativity and new approaches to continue."
