The jewelry industry is getting smarter when it comes to the digital arena, the latest study from New York-based think tank L2 shows, according to the National Jeweler (www.nationaljeweler.com).
In its 2012 “Digital IQ” index for watches and jewelry, L2 states that it is “beginning to see a shift” in digital adoption among watch and jewelry brands, with more companies launching e-commerce sites, improving their websites and engaging in social media.
Since the 2011 study, L2 notes that five brands--Montblanc, Piaget, Van Cleef & Arpels, Baccarat and the latest, Chopard--have launched e-commerce. In addition, all but two brands, Rolex and Patek Philippe, in this year’s study now have a Facebook page, 85 percent are on Twitter and more than half are on Pinterest.
For its Digital IQ reports, L2 scores brands on the effectives of their website (comprising 40 percent of total score), digital marketing efforts (30 percent), social media efforts (15 percent) and mobile capabilities (15 percent). L2 then ranks each brand based on their score: “Genius” (140 +), “Gifted” (110-139), “Average” (90-109), “Challenged” (70-89) and “Feeble” (<70).
L2 conducts a number of these studies in various industries throughout the year. Historically the jewelry and watch industry has not performed well.
This year, however, shows marked improvement.
Last year, only two jewelry companies, Tiffany & Co. and Swarovski ranked as Genius and Gifted, respectively.
In this year’s study, Tiffany & Co. and Swarovski maintained their rankings. Tiffany remains the retailer deemed the most digitally advanced, with a score of 157 this year, topping last year’s 143. Swarovski’s score inched up as well, from 127 to 133.
In addition, seven other companies advanced into the Gifted ranks: David Yurman (score of 131), Tissot (120), Cartier (118), Montblanc (116), Pandora (115), De Beers (114) and Victorinox (114).
While 80 percent of the 47 watch and jewelry brands analyzed ranked as Average or below, with L2 noting that watches and jewelry remains the “weakest” among the industries it analyzes, fewer wound up in the Challenged or Feeble category this year.
Last year, about two-thirds, or about 66 percent, of the 35 brands analyzed were Challenged or Feeble. This year, only 40 percent of the 47 brands analyzed received a score that landed them in the bottom two categories.
Two brands with particularly notable score increases were Rolex, which notched an IQ of 94 this year and rose from Feeble to Average, and De Beers, which moved from Challenged to Gifted.
The Feeble category, though, retained a few familiar names. Though luxury watch brand Patek Philippe rose to Challenged with a Digital IQ of 72, Officine Panerai (61), Graff Diamonds (51) and Buccellati once again were classified as Feeble. Buccellati recorded the lowest score, 30, of all brands analyzed.
The other “Feeble” brands were: Vacheron Constantin (68), Baume & Mercier (67), Zenith (64), A. Lange & Söhne (63), Franck Muller (62), Vestal (60) and H. Stern (39).
While the full report is available only to L2 member companies, the rankings and key findings from the study are accessible on L2’s website.
There is also a video overview online.
