Step inside the nearly 21,000-square-foot suburban Chicago jewelry store with Editor-in-Chief Michelle Graff.
When It Comes to Digital, Tiffany Is Tops
Benchmarking firm L2 said Tiffany & Co. is the digital leader in the watch and jewelry sector thanks to its SEO efforts, online campaigns and social media efforts.
New York--When it comes to watch and jewelry brands with a digital presence, Tiffany & Co. took the cake last year.
Rated in benchmarking company L2’s 2015 Digital IQ Index as a “Genius” company, Tiffany was No. 1 in terms of digital performance out of the 66 watch and jewelry brands L2 ranked, beating out Cartier, Alex and Ani, David Yurman and Pandora, which ranked second through fifth, respectively.
Tiffany has ranked first in the Watches & Jewelry category of L2’s Digital IQ Index since 2011, except for in 2014, when David Yurman took that spot over, pushing the iconic blue box-brand into second place.
Rounding out the top 10 in 2015 were Shinola, Swarovski, Chopard, Van Cleef & Arpels and TAG Heuer.
All of the 66 watch and jewelry brands ranked by L2 were evaluated on 12 digital components, among them mobile search, mobile site, Instagram, email marketing, brand search and store locator. The higher each brand scored on each component, the higher up the list it appeared on the Digital IQ Index.
The score also determined what “class” each company was. Out of all the brands in the top 10 slots, only Tiffany and Cartier earned a “Genius” designation; the other eight companies were dubbed “Gifted,” the second-highest accolade, which is followed by “Average,” “Challenged” and “Feeble.”
Rounding out the bottom of the list with a Feeble ranking were brands Girard-Perregaux, Glashütte, Jean Richard, Wellendorff and Giampiero Bodino (62nd to 66th, respectively.)
Of all 66 watch and jewelry brands listed, the majority did fall under the Feeble ranking (18 companies), followed by Gifted (17), Challenged (16), Average (13) and Genius (two, Tiffany and Cartier.)
Factoring into the Tiffany ranking is its “unparalleled” search engine optimization efforts, L2 said. The brand secures first-page organic search results against more than 30 percent of more than 100 unique category terms specific to jewelry; for example, if a user searched “engagement ring,” Tiffany & Co.’s website would be among the first 10 results delivered.
In addition, its “New York Minute” campaign video, highlighting the debut of the CT60 watch collection, earned more than 3 million views on YouTube, comparable to a holiday ad campaign.
Notable digital feats by Cartier last year included extensive product imagery coupled with “sold online” filters, which drive consumers to the appropriate sales channels based on price points, as well as the brand’s investment
Conversely, the brands at the bottom of the list had their flaws pointed out by L2. Jean Richard “fails to send email correspondence despite extensive information capture found on (its) brand site,” L2 said, while Giampiero Bodino lacks any digital footprint beyond its website and Instagram account.
L2 noted in its 2015 Digital IQ Index that watches and jewelry “face a stark reality: brand equity that took decades (if not centuries) to build does not transfer proportionately online.”
For example, L2 said 10 brands control more than 40 percent of global sales in this market: Cartier, Tiffany & Co., Rolex, Omega, Bulgari, Longines, TAG Heuer, Boucheron, Van Cleef & Arpels and Graff.
Online, however, these 10 brands control nearly 75 percent of all traffic to brand.com destinations: Tiffany & Co., Alex and Ani, Pandora, Swarovski, Shinola, Rolex, Omega, David Yurman, Citizen and Montblanc.
“Only three brands (Tiffany, Rolex and Omega) appear on both lists, signaling a reshuffling of the deck favoring challenger brands attracting a disproportionate share of the online equity,” L2 said.
The Latest
These punk-inspired earrings from the new Canadian brand’s debut collection reveal the alter ego of the classic pearl.
The company brings its nanotechnology to two new fancy cuts for diamonds that feature its signature color and brilliance.
From protecting customer data to safeguarding inventory records, it's crucial to learn how to tackle cybersecurity challenges.
Sponsored by Tasha R
Three Titanic survivors presented him with the personalized Tiffany & Co. timepiece about a year after the tragedy.
A federal court found that the jewelry store chain violated terms of the settlement reached after it was accused of defrauding customers.
This fall, sharpen your skills in jewelry grading, quality control and diamond assessment.
Cynthia Erivo chose Dreams of Hope, an organization dedicated to empowering LGBTQA+ youth, as the charity for this year’s collection.
The new space was designed to evoke a warm, inviting vibe.
Kinney, who spent nearly 30 years at IJO, has been hired to head Abbott Jewelry Systems’ new virtual marketplace.
The auction house was accused of helping clients avoid paying taxes on millions of dollars’ worth of art purchased from 2010 to 2020.
The four finalists will present their pieces at the 2025 JCK Las Vegas show.
The “Camera Oscura” collection showcases earring designs celebrating female Surrealist artists Claude Cahun and Leonor Fini.
The money will fund the planting of 10,000 trees in critical areas across Oregon, Arizona, Montana, and other regions.
The event centered on advancing jewelry manufacturing technology will return to Detroit in May 2025.
Local reports identified the woman as the wife of the jewelry store owner.
A collection of pieces owned by Ferdinand I, the first king of modern Bulgaria, and his family, blew away estimates in Geneva last week.
The Australian jewelry box brand’s new West Village store will showcase new jewelers each month through its Designer in Residence program.
“Lovechild” was created in partnership with Carolyn Rafaelian’s Metal Alchemist brand.
Hampton discussed how Helzberg is improving the customer experience and why it was inspired by the company formerly known as Dunkin’ Donuts.
The group will host several curated events and an exhibition of designer jewelry made with Peruvian gold traceable to the miners’ names.
The collection honors the 50th anniversary of Dolly Parton’s “Love is Like a Butterfly” song, which shares a birth year with Kendra Scott.
This year’s theme asks designers to take inspiration from classic fairy tales.
Senior Editor Lenore Fedow makes the case for why more jewelers should be appealing to nerds at the annual event.
The latest “Raiz’in” drop showcases a newly designed “Scapular” necklace and donates a portion of the proceeds to Make-A-Wish France.
No. 1 out of 100, the timepiece was created to mark Citizen’s 100th anniversary and will be auctioned off at Sotheby’s next month.