The skyline of downtown Providence, Rhode Island. Jewelers of America held one of its Multifacted Learning Workshops there on July 17 and National Jeweler Editor-in-Chief Michelle Graff tagged along.
Last week, I tagged along on a Jewelers of America trip to Providence, Rhode Island, a hidden gem of a state, for one of its Multifaceted Learning Workshops, the seminars JA has been holding around the country this year.
The one-day event covered brand-building, digital marketing, store security, and even a brief history of the jewelry industry’s rise and fall in Providence.
For me, it was the final session of the day that sparked the most interest, with Synchrony’s Jackie Mecca and JA’s own Amanda Gizzi co-hosting “Consumer Buying and Jewelry Trends.”
Mecca, Synchrony’s senior vice president and general manager for luxury markets, dove into the results of the company’s 2023 “Major Purchase Study.”
Conducted every other year, it surveys consumers (Synchrony card holders and non-card holders alike) who have made a $500-plus purchase in the last year about their buying journey—when they bought, where they bought, and why they bought.
Among the more than 3,600 major-purchase consumers surveyed, 68 percent said they purchase in-store, while just 23 percent said they prefer to shop online.
Gizzi added this personal observation from a recent shopping outing in Long Island, New York: “I can’t believe how many people are inside of malls now versus five years ago.”
While interest in in-store shopping is a positive for brick-and-mortar retailers, today’s consumers want to have a good experience and develop a relationship with your store, and they are increasingly relying on your staff to provide it.
A total of 65 percent of consumers surveyed said they consider the in-store experience an essential part of their purchase journey, and 81 percent said they directly interacted with a salesperson during their last in-store visit, up three percentage points from 2021.
As for why consumers ultimately land on a certain product, Synchrony’s Mecca said consumers today want to purchase from brands whose values match theirs.
Among shoppers surveyed, 59 percent said they prefer to shop at and support brands that align with their values. Interestingly, almost a third (28 percent) said they like it when a brand or retailer takes a stand on a social issue.
The above doesn’t really surprise me, given the country’s current political and social climate.
The pandemic showed us that, sure, you can stay home by yourself all the time and order absolutely everything online, but do you really want to?
There’s a joy inherent in getting out of the house and going shopping—touching and feeling the merchandise, trying it on, and asking other living, breathing human beings how it looks.
Being completely robbed of that for two-plus years made so many of us realize that we missed it.
Shopping is, and long has been, a social activity above all. It’s a way to connect with others, support the brick-and-mortar businesses in your area, and feel like part of the community, which we all need.
In her presentation, JA Director of Public Relations and Events Amanda Gizzi also shared these Pantone swatches and called out some gemstones in similar shades. They are the colors Pantone predicts will be hot this fall (from left to right): Tomato Cream, Scarlet Smile, Golden Palm, Aventurine, Red Orange, Fern, Italian Plum, Moonstruck, Winter Sky, and Lucent White.
In her portion of the “Consumer Buying and Jewelry Trends” presentation, Gizzi did what she does so well on a regular basis for National Jeweler via Amanda’s Style File—she outlined the jewelry trends she’s currently seeing everywhere.
They are: Bold Gold, Cool Down (a return to interest in “winter whites,” meaning platinum and white gold); Shimmy and Shake (jewelry with a lot of movement); The Brooch Is Back; and Slither and Fly (animal jewelry, particularly insects and snakes), with Gizzi noting, “Everywhere I turned in Las Vegas, there was some sort of creature.”
While some of you may be rolling your eyes at what feels like the 1000th time someone has heralded the return of the brooch, Gizzi pointed out that pins are also being bought and sold as bag charms. And I would add that more men are embracing brooches as they expand their overall jewelry wardrobe.
“It’s another great way to sell vintage brooches,” she said.
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Other trends she called out in the presentation were pearl collars and bubble letters, sharing this fantastic example from Alison Lou that I covet but probably will never buy because I am cheap.
Gizzi also noted the popularity of less common, angular diamond cuts for engagement rings, like shields and kites, which dovetails with an article I saw on JCKOnline.com recently about the increasing use of cadillac-cut diamonds as side stones.
“Are they going to be your No. 1 seller? Absolutely not,” she said. “But people are interested.”
JA’s next Multifaceted Learning Workshop is scheduled to take place in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, Sept. 17. I’ll be there, and I hope you will too.
