Columnists

On Data: The Second Week of December

ColumnistsDec 16, 2021

On Data: The Second Week of December

Sherry Smith shares the numbers on independent jewelers’ sales from Dec. 8 to 14.

2021_Sherry Smith.jpg
Sherry Smith is director of business development for data and consulting company The Edge Retail Academy. She can be reached at sherry@edgeretailacademy.com.
The second week of December shows a 20 percent increase in gross sales, pacing slightly behind the first week’s 30 percent increase in gross sales.

Number of units sold rose 6 percent, again slightly down from the previous week’s 9 percent increase, and the average retail sale was up 15 percent.

The discounting rate fell year-over-year, 27 percent in the same period in 2020 to 18 percent this year.

Gross sales in the diamond categories were up 23 in the second week of December, while number of units sold rose 15 percent and the average retail sale was up 8 percent.

Discounting has dropped from 32 percent last year to 21 percent during the period this year.

According to multiple sources, Saturday, Dec. 18, aka “Super Saturday,” and Thursday, Dec. 23, are predicted to be the first- and second-busiest shopping days of the holiday season, respectively.

The National Retail Federation reports that more than 148 million consumers plan to shop on Super Saturday despite having started holiday shopping earlier this year.
 
It would appear there’s still quite a bit of holiday business to be had.
 
Stay tuned and happy selling!

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